So much for supporting privacy...
Although I don't mind giving away information on criminals(like a search warrant), the fact that Apple can give away your online backups means it was not secured in the first place and Apple employees can look into your stuff.
I think what it means is that the law is settled when it comes to what's stored on Apple servers. If they get a warrant, they have to turn it over.
Apple used to keep an encryption key to get into the data that's stored on your phone (some of which is not part of the backup), and the law was settled on that, too. If they got a warrant, they had to turn over the key.
Now they don't keep the key. The key is only stored on your phone. Apple doesn't have it, so they don't have to turn it over. They CAN'T turn it over, because they don't have it. And that encryption key is kept safe on your iPhone with a passcode, which Apple doesn't know. The passcode may be accessible with your fingerprint. Apple doesn't have that either. And they've built safeguards into the phone so that your fingerprint only unlocks the passcode under certain circumstances. If you reboot the phone, or let enough time go by, or use the wrong finger too many times, the phone goes back to requiring you to put in the passcode. Again, none of this is stored on Apple's servers (which is why you can still get into your phone when you're not connected to Apple).
This gives you options. You don't have to back up your iPhone to iCloud. You don't have to back it up at all. And you have some control over what data gets backed up. You can set up your phone to self-destruct (not physically) if you put in the wrong passcode too many times. You don't have to post on FaceBook.
Now we get into law that's not settled. Apple can write software that makes your phone more secure. They do that all the time in the form of software updates that plug security leaks Apple knows about. They can also write software that makes your phone less secure, by introducing new security leaks.
The FBI wants Apple to write a version of iOS that has a security hole (taking away the code that self-destructs the key if you type in the wrong passcode too many times). And they want to install that version of iOS on a phone that's currently locked (normally you have to unlock your phone to install new software). Apple doesn't want to do this.
Another thing Apple doesn't want to do is create a version of iOS with a back door for law enforcement agencies like the FBI, the NYPD, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, China's Ministry of State Security, or the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence to use whenever they have whatever is the equivalent of a warrant in those countries.
This case happens to involve terrorism. But a court order is a court order, and the next court order demanding that Apple do the same thing could be to find out if Marco Rubio hired a gardener and didn't pay his portion of the payroll taxes. Or whether Madonna has pictures on her phone of Bill Cosby molesting her. Or whether you violated your child custody agreement by taking the kids to Disney World.
