Privacy campaigners held organized rallies across the US yesterday to protest the FBI's demands that Apple unlock the iPhone at the center of its San Bernardino shooter investigation.

Following on from limited protests in California last week, rallies extended from Albuquerque to Washington DC to support Apple's insistence that complying with the bureau's demands risked compromising the security of millions of users' data.

Privacy protest

Protestors rally outside an Apple Store (Image: Cult of Mac)

Large crowds are reported to have gathered in front of Apple Stores in Boston, Portland, Reno, Seattle and Los Angeles, with protestors wearing T-shirts and brandishing signs with slogans such as "Don't break our phones". One rally at San Francisco's downtown store – the site of last week's protests – drew around 40 protestors and about 20 members of the press, beginning late afternoon and continuing into the evening.

"We're concerned that if Apple undermines its security in response to the FBI's request it will set a very dangerous precedent that could be used in any number of cases going forward, both by the US government and by international governments, including authoritarian regimes that might seek to access our information," Rainey Reitman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation told Cult of Mac.

"We're also worried that that key, once it's created, could be a honeypot for hackers that might want to seek access to information or could be misused in many diverse ways. We don't think that it's appropriate that the government order a tech company to undermine its own security in any way."

Apple privacy protestors

Protestors support Apple at The Grove in Los Angeles (Image: John McCoy)

The extended protests come a week after a U.S. federal judge ordered Apple to assist the FBI with unlocking an iPhone belonging to suspected San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook. Apple moved swiftly to oppose the court order in an open letter to customers. The company has until February 26 to file its legal response.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly pursuing additional court orders that would force Apple to help federal investigators extract data from twelve other encrypted iPhones that may contain crime-related evidence.

The twelve cases are apparently similar to the San Bernardino case in that prosecutors have sought to use the 18th-century All Writs Act to force Apple to comply, but none are related to terrorism charges and most involve older versions of iOS software.

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.

Top Rated Comments

navaira Avatar
126 months ago
Apple is a Dishonest company, Why Apple blocks Samsung phone sales in the court case. Because Samsung is only the brand, that can fu.. apple. This happens only in the USA. This is a fascism
Next time sober up before posting.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sill Avatar
126 months ago
I know people are getting sick of hearing this but... I wonder how Jobs would have dealt with this , would have been interesting
Well let's see...

Steve refused to put plates on his car. Ever. He used a loophole in California law that required registration "within 6 months" to drive his car without a plate, trading it in for a new car every 5.9 months. His stated reason was that he didn't want his personal info available via plate request, and that he preferred to remain anonymous. But he was repeatedly photographed in his plateless Benz and even waved at people from time to time during photos.

Steve, though he was a registered Democrat and even sat Al Gore on the Apple Board, never publicly lobbied the government during his reign, not personally or via Apple. In fact, Apple's lobbying budget was so negligible it wasn't worth publishing during some years.

When he and other tech leaders had a "historic summit meeting" with Obama, he was asked to come to DC. He responded that he was too busy, and Obama needed to come to San Francisco. Obama agreed to. The Secret Service wanted control of the seating, Jobs said no. Obama caved and Jobs controlled who sat with whom. I think Jobs even controlled the food offerings. I doubt he would have showed up if the administration gave him any trouble about his demands. Ultimately, Steve only gave Obama about two hours time and then said he had to get back to work.

Go watch the videos of Steve's various meetings with the Cupertino city "planners" for a laugh. Despite being very sick, he was very resolute and almost scary in the way he handled them; at one point he threatened to take the entire company out of Cupertino because of a very stupid question from one of the council members. There was no question that he was serious. Even in his advanced illness he broke them.

It is very apparent to me that Steve loathed government, and barely tolerated it. The more I study him, the more it becomes apparent to me that he was very much the anarcho-capitalist.


I think its safe to say that he would have rather quickly put them in their place.

In fact, I think they wouldn't have ever dared ask for the data.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
displayblock Avatar
126 months ago
All the pedophiles with child porn on their phones, stand in soldairy. Go Apple, support the first amendment and protect murders that store photos of the chopped up bodies in the icloud.. All the Criminals and terrorist should start a Go fundme page for Apple for supporting the criminal element.
If our criminal justice system can't possibly do its job without Apple doing it for them, we've got much bigger problems. How did law enforcement manage to do it before there were cellphones? How did the iPhone bring our once mighty government down to its knees. The way they're begging really makes our nation look pathetic.

The majority of law-abiding, tax-paying citizens should not have their Constitutional freedoms sacrificed because of a small minority of criminals that are capable of somehow outsmarting our law enforcement.

I don't know about you, but as an American I value the freedoms I still have left. I'm not in favor of the government taking more than is necessary, and what they're asking for is a direct attack on our Constitutional right to privacy.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
displayblock Avatar
126 months ago
I'm much more likely to get hit by a car and killed on my way to work than ever come close to a terrorist attack. Yet the terrorists somehow keep on taking more and more of our freedom away. I don't think we should keep giving them what they want.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tomaustin44 Avatar
126 months ago
'Don't break our phones' is a pretty unintelligent tagline... It completely misses the main privacy issues surrounding the debate. I'm all for what they're doing but do I love my phone to print off an enormous poster and beg the government not to 'break it'? Seems a bit desperate.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lchlch Avatar
126 months ago
Pretty cut and dried here. Two issues-withholding evidence and contempt. Tim Cook should already be in jail. Like it or not, disagree or not, laws are laws and he has broken them.
Apple is not withholding any evidence because they are not holding the phone.

And there's no contempt because there no breach of an order. That matter is still pending trial.

Btw just a side note you do know that your comment is defamatory right?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iOS 26.1 Beta Liquid Glass Battery Drain Test: Tinted vs Clear Mode

Friday October 24, 2025 2:30 pm PDT by
In the fourth iOS 26.1 beta, Apple added a "Tinted" option that reduces the translucency of Liquid Glass for those who prefer a more opaque look. I saw some comments wondering whether the setting might preserve battery life, so I thought I'd do some testing. Test Settings I did four separate tests using the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and I kept the parameters as similar as possible. Here are the...
ios 26 digital id passport wallet

Apple Says U.S. Passport Feature on iPhone is Coming Soon

Monday October 27, 2025 7:41 am PDT by
You will "soon" be able to add a digital version of your U.S. passport to your iPhone, according to Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. Bailey reiterated that the feature is coming soon during her keynote at the Money20/20 USA conference in Las Vegas on Sunday. On its iOS 26 page, Apple says the delayed feature will be "coming later this year." Apple's...
macos tahoe

Here Are Apple's Release Notes for macOS Tahoe 26.1

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:21 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of macOS Tahoe 26.1, which means the update will likely see a public launch next week. The release candidate includes notes on what's in the update, so we have a full picture of the new features that Apple has included. macOS Tahoe 26.1 adds AutoMix support over AirPlay, improved FaceTime audio...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

iPhone XX? 6 Features Rumored for Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone

Monday October 27, 2025 4:01 pm PDT by
For the 10th anniversary iPhone that came out in 2017, Apple introduced the iPhone X with Face ID, notch, and minimized bezels, providing more display space than ever before. The 20th iPhone anniversary is approaching and Apple wants to take the iPhone X design even further. We're two years away from the 2027 iPhone, but it's tough for Apple to keep major changes under wraps. We've rounded...