If Apple is Ordered to Unlock iPhone for FBI, Some Engineers Might Refuse to Help

[MacRumors]

Should the FBI win its ongoing legal battle with Apple, resulting in the Cupertino company being ordered to unlock the iPhone 5c used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook, some Apple engineers may decide not to cooperate with law enforcement.

Apple employees who might be called on to help the FBI are already considering their actions should Apple lose the case, reports The New York Times, following interviews with half a dozen people involved in the development of mobile products and security at Apple.

Apple employees are already discussing what they will do if ordered to help law enforcement authorities. Some say they may balk at the work, while others may even quit their high-paying jobs rather than undermine the security of the software they have already created, according to more than a half-dozen current and former Apple employees.

Accessing the iPhone in question would require Apple to comply with an FBI request for a new version of iOS that would both bypass passcode restrictions on the device and allow the FBI to enter a passcode electronically instead of manually. Apple has said it will take six to ten engineers a period of two to four weeks to develop the new operating system.

Should Apple engineers decide not to develop the software the FBI is requesting, it could significantly delay the FBI's efforts to access the phone and it could result in legal consequences for those involved. As The New York Times points out, developing what Apple calls "GovtOS" would be difficult without the cooperation of key engineers, and Apple employees already have a solid idea who would be called on to help.

They include an engineer who developed software for the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. That engineer previously worked at an aerospace company. Another is a senior quality-assurance engineer who is described as an expert "bug catcher" with experience testing Apple products all the way back to the iPod. A third likely employee specializes in security architecture for the operating systems powering the iPhone, Mac and Apple TV.

If Apple employees refuse to write the code for the software, Apple could potentially face hefty fines for non-compliance.

Apple will face off against the FBI in court next Tuesday, one day after the company's March 21 event that will see the debut of the 4-inch iPhone SE and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. Both Apple and the FBI have previously submitted several briefs arguing their sides.

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: If Apple is Ordered to Unlock iPhone for FBI, Some Engineers Might Refuse to Help

 

[Z400Racer37]

I knew that would happen, These guys are heroic. Apple and it's employees are literally at gunpoint to produce x because the government wants it. What the hell is happening in The Land of the Free...

 

[gigapocket1]

The "expert" bug catcher. Doesn't do to good of a job eliminating bugs...

 

[darkgoob]

It's not just about that one phone. The Atlantic already reported that court documents show it's about at least 12 phones. Then after that, surely the floodgates would be opened.

If Apple complies with this, they tacitly set a precedent. Then, every agency (NSA, CIA, every other government in the world and all their agencies, etc.) will come clamoring to have things unlocked.

So Apple will then have to leave backdoors in their phones in order to continue being able to comply ... they simply can't keep making unbreakable phones, then wasting tons of time finding a way to break it, over and over again.

If they leave a backdoor then hackers will find it and nobody's phones will be safe. You'll plug your iPhone in a charger in a Chinese hotel and it will be owned. Etc. Defense contractors' phones will get owned, China will steal yet more secrets; terrorists will hack airline pilots phones and be able to impersonate them and hijack planes; hackers will get into nuclear facilities through compromised devices.

We just can't have insecure phones. This is where I store my heartbeat, my sleep cycles, my wallet, my most personal notes, logins to all my social media accounts that could be used to ruin my reputation; I would not dare trust it if I knew there was even a chance of it having a back door.

The price of having privacy in society is the risk that criminals or terrorists may use that privacy to conceal their activities. I'm willing to pay that price; it's the price of freedom.

Those brave soldiers who fight to protect our freedom are fighting to protect this: our right to privacy and individuality and freedom from constant surveillance.

If we give up that, then the terrorists have already won.

 

[Slix]

Good for them. As deep as this situation gets, I'm becoming increasingly proud of Apple's decisions to protect their users' privacy and data for the future.

 

[currocj]

Is there going to be another Waco, TX in Cupertino. Grabbing the popcorn

 

[VulchR]

They should just write really buggy code... The kind that prevents iOS from booting.

 

[Mac 128]

So if corporations are people, and people go to jail when they are in contempt of a court order ... who goes to jail?

 

[zioxide]

Moot point as Apple is not going to lose this case.

But there's also nothing the court can do if these employees simply resign and no longer work for Apple at that point.

 

[gaximus]

If the court forces Apple to do this and Apple declines, what would be the punishment? a fine. Apple should just pay the fine.

 

[timeconsumer]

Thanks FBI, this is why we can't have nice things. The FBI just needs to drop this already.

 

[KPandian1]

I truly hope the courts do not order Apple to unlock the iPhone OS, eventually ALL iPhones, by some legal manipulation, leading to such a confrontation with the software engineers.

If that happens, it will be an interesting thing to watch! More fun will follow, as Whatsapp, Google, etc., will face the same drama.

 

[soupcan]

Keep it up folks. This fight ain't over.

 

[photographypro]

The FBI says this is about one iPhone, but the terrorists destroyed two personal cell phones and removed the hard drive from a computer that has yet to be found. There is NOTHING of value on this particular iPhone. I believe the FBI made a case about it to establish a precedent for all iPhones.

 

[gnasher729]

The "expert" bug catcher. Doesn't do to good of a job eliminating bugs...

You obviously won't see the bugs that he catches.

I knew that would happen, These guys are heroic. Apple and it's employees are literally at gunpoint to produce x because the government wants it. What the hell is happening in The Land of the Free...

Apple and the engineers are literally _not_ at gunpoint. Apple is a company and cannot be literally at gun point. The engineers are literally at gun point if the FBI enters Apple's headquarters with guns drawn and pointing the guns at the engineers. Not that it would happen, but I think the result would be FBI agents in jail.

It's not _that_ heroic. Apple isn't going to fire them. The court cannot force Apple to fire them (since firing them isn't going to get the software created).

If the court forces Apple to do this and Apple declines, what would be the punishment? a fine. Apple should just pay the fine.

If the engineers refuse, then Apple _can't_ write the software. It wouldn't be Apple declining, but Apple not being able to do it. BTW, I don't think anyone knows if Apple _can_ actually install new firmware on a locked phone. Apple hasn't had any reason to try it yet.

 

[sshambles]

My money says on Monday Apple releases the next iOS 9.3 update with huge security features, which, with whatever happens in court the next day, will be near impossible to break open through any method that the FBI is granted anyway.

If plausible, it would be check and mate. No doubt these engineers are frantically right now working on something similar to this.

 

[naeS1Sean]

Good for them...

 

[pavelbure]

This damn government, they have no idea who is coming over the border, terrorist or seasonal worker, and they really don't care, but they must have the info on this phone for the safety of the nation. Privacy and security for everyone be damned.

 

[PBRsg]

I knew that would happen, These guys are heroic. Apple and it's employees are literally at gunpoint to produce x because the government wants it. What the hell is happening in The Land of the Free...

TBH, I now see government as a bigger threat to my freedom than terrorists. My libertarian instincts were right all along...

 

[rdlink]

The "expert" bug catcher. Doesn't do to good of a job eliminating bugs...

He does a better job than some do at catching spelling errors...

 

[VulchR]

So if corporations are people, and people go to jail when they are in contempt of a court order ... who goes to jail?

Brilliant.

 

[Rocketman]

They could take a leave of absence and work for Google, Amazon, IBM, Facebook and Twitter for a while. Brain drain.

It shocks me to the core to know that the government, who's job it is to keep agencies like this in check and keep civil liberties at the forefront of priority are siding with this agency in attempting to erode privacy and freedom in pursuit of their agenda.

The problem is, it's not the government, per se. It is people working in the government at this moment. It is a political decision by the executive branch, its leaders, the agencies called FBI and DoJ led by real people appointed by this current President. This is on the hands of this President quite squarely.

This is what you get when you mix a President with a Constitutional scholar and teacher, and a Community Organizer. You get malicious anti-constitutional, anti-citizen policies. Malicious economics, malicious partisan speech, malicious division of people by race, gender, income, education. All while giving speeches that overtly state the opposite is happening. We are seeing the first propaganda President that is open enough to get caught. Just like Putin always does.

Nobody has the authority or means to stop either one of them.

in Section 1002 of that act, the Feds gave up authority to “require any specific design of equipment, facilities, services, features or system configurations” from any phone manufacturer.

This is clear and convincing evidence the Federal government and particularly the individuals heading up the FBI and DoJ and the POTUS are expressly breaking the law.

Any lawyer here that can tell me the recourse for this besides voting? Criminal or civil.

cite:

https://backchannel.com/the-law-is-...-apple-rewrite-its-os-9ae60c3bbc7b#.7l487lhw3

 

[rdlink]

Moot point as Apple is not going to lose this case.

But there's also nothing the court can do if these employees simply resign and no longer work for Apple at that point.

This.

 

[HangmanSwingset]

Could always create a team of "experts" who really know f*** all about coding, let alone unlocking a phone. Technically they'd have people working on the matter.

 

[nagromme]

Apple wouldn't have to fire those people if they'd rather to keep their talent on hand—they'd just need to prove they are hiring (or making a serious effort to hire, since you can't force acceptance of an offer) and training new people who will then learn to perform the mandated work, right?

I don't see how the government could force an employer to terminate vital talent; nor could they enslave the employees to work directly for the government. So, they work would just have to take longer.

(And yes, Apple's case is solid, so it shouldn't come to this. But the government sees itself above the law, and ever since the Patriot Act we've rubber-stamped that, so...)