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Apple Reiterates Inability to Unlock iOS Devices Running iOS 8 or Higher in New Court Filing

Tuesday October 20, 2015 1:32 pm PDT by Juli Clover
sixdigitpasscodeApple this week informed a federal magistrate judge in Brooklyn, New York that it "would be impossible" for the company to access data on a locked iPhone running iOS 8 or later, reports Reuters. Apple was responding to a request from the judge, James Orenstein, to help him decide whether to fulfill a U.S. Justice Department request that would have forced Apple to help authorities gain access to a seized iPhone.

Apple's response is not a surprise, as it is the same thing the company has said several times in the past. Since iOS 8, Apple has stopped storing encryption keys for devices, making it impossible for the company to unlock iPhones and iPads under police request. Without an encryption key, Apple cannot bypass a passcode to gain access to an iOS device.

In a brief filed with the court, Apple said 90 percent of its devices are running iOS 8 or higher and are thus inaccessible. Apple is able to access the 10 percent of devices that continue to use iOS 7 or below, but the company told the judge that being forced to comply with the Justice Department's request could tarnish its brand.
"Forcing Apple to extract data in this case, absent clear legal authority to do so, could threaten the trust between Apple and its customers and substantially tarnish the Apple brand," Apple's lawyers wrote.
Apple's encryption changes, implemented in 2014 with iOS 8, have been unpopular with some law enforcement officials. FBI Director James Comey has expressed concern that encryption implemented by companies like Google and Apple lets people "place themselves above the law."

Just yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook told an interviewer encryption is a necessity and that software backdoors are unacceptable, reiterating Apple's long-standing opinion on the subject.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tag: privacy
[ 171 comments ]


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Mascots
35 months ago


FBI Director James Comey has expressed concern ('//www.macrumors.com/2014/09/25/rbi-concerned-with-apple-encryption/') that encryption implemented by companies like Google and Apple lets people "place themselves above the law."


I can not get over this quote.

Like mining and storing millions of communication records illegally collected from American citizens.

Like not requiring the use of a court system to subpoena information because it's inconvenient or will never been have accepted.

Like attempting to circumvent software designed for consumer protection by using malware to grant that access.

Like giving authority to government entities for full, free access to devices under a law that was never designed to be interpreted under today's technological conditions or by lying about the situation in which those conditions were not actually met.

Let's see..
Rating: 73 Votes
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neuropsychguy
35 months ago
This is exactly as it should be.
Rating: 56 Votes
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DrewDaHilp1
35 months ago
Good job Apple. They courts should be forced to go to the accused, and then the accused should be able to invoke the 5th.
Rating: 28 Votes
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mariusignorello
35 months ago
Good job Apple, keep things locked up tight.
Rating: 20 Votes
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captain cadet
35 months ago
For someone studying Security, If they can't crack it, they cannot crack it - The law is so far behind with technology meaning the Law is out of date!
Rating: 20 Votes
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hlfway2anywhere
35 months ago
But won't someone please think of the children!? /s
Rating: 16 Votes
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AbSoluTc
35 months ago

i thought i read somewhere, that if you use touch id, the law can make you unlocked your phone; whereas if you use 4 digit pin, they cannot.

**edit, here we go. http://gizmodo.com/cops-can-make-you-fingerprint-unlock-your-phone-and-th-1653984192


Correct. So make sure you have an alphanumeric passcode and you turn your device OFF/RESTART before you have to hand it over. Odds of most people needing to do that are slim but keep it in mind TouchID will not work if the phone is restarted or turned off/on.

Also, good for Apple! No government agency needs access to what I have on my phone. I don't care what excuse they come up with or try to pedal for the sake of "homeland security".
Rating: 15 Votes
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spoa94
35 months ago
I love Apple's stance on security and privacy but I wish we as users could opt in and out of some of these features. For instance I would be okay with Apple storing my health, fitness, and Siri data in the cloud and not only on my device. I don't like that when I restore my iPhone from iCloud I lose all this data. I want to be able to tell Apple what I want to keep secure and what I don't necessarily care about keeping secure.
Rating: 13 Votes
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Four oF NINE
35 months ago
Suck it up feds, and learn to deal with the constitution!
Rating: 11 Votes
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Westside guy
35 months ago

Good job Apple. They courts should be forced to go to the accused, and then the accused should be able to invoke the 5th.


Require a warrant? Why, that's crazy communist talk!
Rating: 11 Votes

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