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Apple Fights Government Demand to Unlock iPhone in New York Drug Case

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Following the U.S. Department of Justice's decision to dismiss its lawsuit against Apple after it managed to access the iPhone 5c of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook, the agency announced its intention to continue on with a similar New York lawsuit where it is attempting to get Apple's help to breach an iPhone 5s used in a drug case.

In a filing this afternoon, Apple again refused to help the DOJ gain access to the device in question and asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming the government has not proven that it has exhausted all other means of getting the data. There are specific references made to the San Bernardino case, where the FBI did manage to find another way into the iPhone without involving Apple. Via The Wall Street Journal:
"The government has utterly failed to demonstrate that the requested order is necessary to effectuate the search warrant, including that it exhausted all other avenues for recovering the information it seeks,'' Apple argued in the new filing to U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie. "Before the government demands that Apple do the work of law enforcement, the government must offer evidence that it has performed an 'exhaustive search' and that it remains unable to obtain the data it seeks without Apple's assistance.''
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According to Apple, the FBI has not adequately demonstrated that the method it used to gain access to the iPhone 5c used by Syed Farook does not work on the Brooklyn iPhone 5s. Apple also argues the FBI has not proven it has consulted with the third party that helped with the San Bernardino iPhone or other third parties that could provide assistance.

iPhone-5s.jpg

In late February, U.S. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein ruled the FBI lacked the legal authority to force Apple to breach the New York iPhone, but the U.S. Justice Department filed a formal appeal in early March in an effort to turn over the ruling, which is what Apple is responding to with today's filing.

In the New York case, which dates back to October 2015, the FBI is aiming to access data on an iPhone 5s belonging to Brooklyn drug dealer Jun Feng. While the FBI employed the help of "professional hackers" to access the iPhone 5c in the California case, FBI Director James Comey has said the method used to gain entry to that device does not work on the iPhone 5s or later.

The iPhone 5s in question is running an earlier version of iOS (iOS 7) that Apple does have the means to access, but Apple is refusing to do so after taking a stronger stance on encryption and customer privacy. While Apple can obtain data from that particular iPhone 5s, it does not have the means to do so on devices running iOS 8 or iOS 9 due to a change in its encryption methods.

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.

Article Link: Apple Fights Government Demand to Unlock iPhone in New York Drug Case
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/04/15/apple-fbi-new-york-iphone-appeal/
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dk001

dk001

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The DOJ should have known this would be one the items Apple would use for this appeal and any other future requests. "Show proof you cannot get it done any other way."
Sometimes I have to really wonder what we have in the DOJ.
 
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Benjamin Frost

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Apple should not need to defend themselves full stop.

It is wrong for any government to break into a phone with Apple's help. I regard any attempt by the US government to do so as criminal and hold them to account. Anyone found guilty of attempting to break into a phone on behalf of the government should be stripped of their duties and imprisoned. They will have a criminal record for the rest of their life.
 
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5105973

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Benjamin Frost said:
Apple should not need to defend themselves full stop.

It is wrong for any government to break into a phone with Apple's help. I regard any attempt by the US government to do so as criminal and hold them to account. Anyone found guilty of attempting to break into a phone on behalf of the government should be stripped of their duties and imprisoned. They will have a criminal record for the rest of their life.
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Seriously. It's almost like the government expects Apple to allocate a whole department of resources just to help law enforcement, to sort of be their personal locksmith. But will they compensate Apple? No. They're just strong arming them.
 
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Rocketman

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GrumpyMom said:
Seriously. It's almost like the government expects Apple to allocate a whole department of resources just to help law enforcement, to sort of be their personal locksmith. But will they compensate Apple? No. They're just strong arming them.
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FEDGOV has arbitrary and capricious rulemaking authority with very limited judicial overview. Research my words.

Rocketman
[doublepost=1460770441][/doublepost]The standard of conduct in law is you cannot conscript a person, natural or corporate, to do your bidding even if you pay them a fee, but espicially if you do not. Citizen rights are presumed not bestowed or granted by FEDGOV!!
 
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Glideslope

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zorinlynx said:
That's it, folks. The government is going to keep trying and trying and trying until they get their way and set a precedent, or manage to ram laws through and ruin the security of our devices forever.

They've made it clear they want to do this. I just hope we can hold things off for as long as possible.
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I think we all know the solution to this Orwellian State. Do we have the commitment, courage, and resources to take what is ours? That is the question. :apple:
 
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vpndev

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GrumpyMom said:
Seriously. It's almost like the government expects Apple to allocate a whole department of resources just to help law enforcement, to sort of be their personal locksmith. But will they compensate Apple? No. They're just strong arming them.
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Actually, yes. The San Bernardino court order explicitly says that the FBI has to pay Apple for its help.
[doublepost=1460775196][/doublepost]On a more general note, Apple is pushing back against the FBI's appeal of Judge Orenstein's denial.

But we need to be careful that the FBI does not get to vacate that ruling. It's a major step in the right direction - a well-reasoned critique of the FBI's position. It would be terrible if the FBI managed to get it withdrawn.
 
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LovingTeddy

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So Apple is admitting that there are ways to get the data and FBI can figure it out by themselves. Apple know there is way and refuse to help law enforcement.

So it turns out iPhone is not that secure and Apple want to help criminals. It is just Apple is pretending they care about your data, it is all perfect PR stunt
 
Shirasaki

Shirasaki

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So long as United States government is not under control of a tiny group of elites like North Korea, we still have a chance to fight back and hold off what supposed to be ours.

But, if multiple agencies in government joins together, then things would go just worse.
 
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crashoverride77

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LovingTeddy said:
So Apple is admitting that there are ways to get the data and FBI can figure it out by themselves. Apple know there is way and refuse to help law enforcement.

So it turns out iPhone is not that secure and Apple want to help criminals. It is just Apple is pretending they care about your data, it is all perfect PR stunt
Click to expand...

Facepalm
 
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Tech198

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I find it even more interesting that we have two cases against Apple...... No one would put up this much of a fight BUT Apple..

Or maybie the fact Apple is using the term *stronger encryption* for a device that is NOT running iOS8. and therefore does not have hardware encryption.

Apple will push today's boundary for anything won't they even though it is possible. I think this whole protecting users has gone to Tim's head. Now we will use this same stance regardless of what phone iOS version makes sense to fight for, and regardless weather it has same technology.

Its like blabbering in Apple's ears "yes Tim, we know, But this one device is running iOS7" over and over..

This case is over this *one* phone, not for security in general.. I think Apples loosing it.
 
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