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Apple CEO says FBI backdoor order on San Bernadino shooter is "chilling" and "dangerous"

In the days following the attack, the FBI asked Apple to assist in its investigation and provide data. The Cupertino-based giant handed over some of that information, as it does with any "valid subpoenas and search warrants"

Tim Cook

Following reports that the FBI was demanding that Apple create a backdoor in its iOS software to help agents access information on the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, CEO Tim Cook, in an unusual move, has publicly commented on the matter.

In an open letter posted on the company's website, Cook details Apple's involvement in the case in which a locked iPhone was recovered following a terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured 22 more on December 2nd, and goes on to explain why it's "too dangerous" for the company to concede to government demands.

In the days following the attack, the FBI asked Apple to assist in its investigation and provide data. The Cupertino-based giant handed over some of that information, as it does with any "valid subpoenas and search warrants," and Apple engineers were also made available to advise on the case: "We have done everything that is both within our power and within the law to help them," says Cook.

"We have done everything that is both within our power and within the law to help them."

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Those demands then focused on gaining physical access to the iPhone. "The U.S. government has asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create," adds Cook. "They have asked us to build a backdoor to the iPhone."

According to the Cook, the FBI asked the company to create a special version of iOS that would allow agents to bypass security features on the recovered iPhone. Apple refused, stating that such a piece of software would be able to unlock any iPhone if placed in the wrong hands: "The FBI may use different words to describe this tool, but make no mistake: Building a version of iOS that bypasses security in this way would undeniably create a backdoor. And while the government may argue that its use would be limited to this case, there is no way to guarantee such control."

Cook also criticised the FBI's "unprecedented use" of the All Writs Act of 1789 rather than legislative action through Congress. The All Writs Act, as described by the EFF, is "an all-purpose law that allows courts to require third parties' assistance to execute a prior order of the court."

When Apple introduced encryption in iOS 8, it could no longer access locked iPhones, so the FBI tried to use the act to force it to re-engineer iOS and give it a way to brute force the passcode. The Apple Chief argues that those powers could be extended to intercept messages, access health and financial information, track a person's movements or stealthily access their microphone or camera.

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"The implications of the government's demands are chilling," he says. "Opposing this order is not something we take lightly. We feel we must speak up in the face of what we see as an overreach by the U.S. government. We are challenging the FBI's demands with the deepest respect for American democracy and a love of our country. We believe it would be in the best interest of everyone to step back and consider the implications."

As stated in an Engadget report, Cook closes the letter with: "While we believe the FBI's intentions are good, it would be wrong for the government to force us to build a backdoor into our products. And ultimately, we fear that this demand would undermine the very freedoms and liberty our government is meant to protect."

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