U.S. Attorney General Says iPhone Unlock Request Won't Lead to Widespread Privacy Breaches

With the court date for the iPhone unlocking case between Apple and the FBI just over a week away, United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch decided to speak on the issue during an episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert last night (via TechCrunch). After Colbert asked about her likely stance on the topic, Lynch said that she has "had a number of great conversations with Tim Cook on issues of privacy," and remarked on the sensitivity of the issue.

"Well, you know, we've disagreed publicly in court and I've had a number of great conversations with Tim Cook on issues of privacy. What I'll say about this, though, is I understand why this is important to everybody, because privacy is an important issue for everyone. It's important to me, as the Attorney General, it's important to me as a citizen."

As it has been heavily reported since mid-February, the case revolves around the FBI's request for Apple to unlock the iPhone 5c of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook. Apple CEO Tim Cook has taken a stance against the court order, which Colbert brought up to Lynch in last night's interview. The host noted Cook's belief that creating such a backdoor into the iPhone could lead to a "slippery slope" into privacy concerns for all Apple device users.

Lynch's defense lies in Cook's alleged misrepresentation of what the FBI wants the company to do in regards to Farook's iPhone. In the interview, she claims that they are "not asking for a backdoor," and that the court order filed requesting Apple's compliance is "very narrow," suggesting Cook's fear of an anti-privacy precedent is unwarranted.

"Well you know, first of all, we're not asking for a backdoor, and nor are we asking for him to turn anything on to spy on anyone. We're asking them to do what their customer wants. The real owner of the phone is the county, the employer of one of the terrorists who's now dead. What we're asking them to do is to help us disable the password erase function that basically wipes the phone if you guess the password wrong after ten times. We will try to get into the phone, we will extract the evidence under the court order that we have gotten that's very narrow, it's very focused."

Lynch's comments support a recent document released by the prosecutors representing the United States government in the case against Apple, in which they refer to the original filing for Apple's participation a "modest" request that would never lead to a "master key" that could unlock all iPhones against the will of their owners. Nevertheless, Apple will appear in court to fight the order on March 22, following the recently confirmed March 21 date of its "Let Us Loop You In" media event.

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: Apple-FBI

Top Rated Comments

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TheRealTVGuy

33 months ago

Sorry, Ms. Attorney General, but the NSA's actions and the Patriot Act are enough for me to call "Shenanigans" and not have any trust or faith in the argument you're trying to make.

Rating: 41 Votes

benh911f

33 months ago

This is a woman who recently said there have been discussions in the DOJ about bringing legal action against people who exercise their First Amendment Right in regards to the question of climate change.
She's the last person I would believe.

Rating: 22 Votes

soupcan

33 months ago

Aww, she thinks she knows tech.

Plot twist: she doesn't.

Rating: 21 Votes

Rocketman

33 months ago

Is this the same AG who feels the private server with classified information on it, marked or not, is just fine? This is the most politically motivated AG in my lifetime. I trust nothing that comes out of her mouth and soon an election will fix that bad noise.

Rating: 18 Votes

duffman9000

33 months ago

What a freaking liar.

Rating: 14 Votes

Bigsk8r

33 months ago

It is not Apple's fault that the county did not take more steps to keep their property from being placed in a state that they cannot recover, or for not doing bi-weekly iCloud backup checks to ensure that each device was being backed up per common sense policy.

Not Apples monkeys. Not Apples circus. Go away FBI.

Rating: 11 Votes

kch50428

33 months ago

This is from the same administration that said if you like your insurance plan and doctor(s) you could keep them...

Nothing but vocal emissions from an orifice not on their cranium....

Rating: 11 Votes

keysofanxiety

33 months ago

"Well you know, first of all, we're not asking for a backdoor, and nor are we asking for him to turn anything on to spy on anyone. What we're asking them to do is to help us disable the password erase function that basically wipes the phone if you guess the password wrong after ten times. We will try to get into the phone, we will extract the evidence under the court order that we have gotten that's very narrow, it's very focused."

Not this rubbish again. They keep missing the point that in order to disable the password erase function, Apple will have to create software that essentially acts as a backdoor due to the level of security on their phones. They can't just disable it on one specific phone, because the same software could be applicable on any iPhone.

It's like asking somebody to create a fob that unlocks only one specific car without any previous keys or information to go on -- but in engineering that, it can unlock any car of the same model, regardless of what its usage would be.

Rating: 11 Votes

Robert.Walter

33 months ago

Dear AG, your wishin', hopin', prayin', just sayin' doesn't meant you have a clue about what you are talking about.

Some have mooted you for a potential Supreme Court appointment. Based on what you are trying to sell to the citizenry, I think you are not qualified.

Please go home, you are power drunk.

Rating: 10 Votes