Tech community reacts to FBI motion in Apple case

As the Department of Justice said Monday it no longer needed Apple’s help to unlock the San Beardino attcker’s iPhone, leaders in the technology community stopped short of declaring a victory in the battle for privacy.

The Department of Justice was seeking that the technology giant build special software that would allow the FBI to unlock the encrypted work-issued iPhone 5C used by San Beardino mass shooting gunman Syed Rizwan Farook. But Apple argued that building the software sought by the FBI will create a “master key” enabling hackers to unlock millions of other iPhones and breach the data security of its customers.

Lisa Hayes, vice president of programs and strategies for Washington D.C.-based Center for Democracy and Technology, said Monday’s aouncement by the govement was a “short-term win for Apple.”

“The case was getting bigger and bigger — the hearing was tued into an evidentiary hearing — and to suddenly have it postponed, it was a surprise,” Hayes said.

Though the Justice Department would not disclose Monday the method it is using to try and unlock the iPhone, Hayes was skeptical that the govement, if it does have some overidding technology, could unlock the phone by April 5.

“I would not be surprised if they were back in court in the next two weeks rescheduling this hearing,” she said.

Kurt Opsahl, general counsel for the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, called Monday’s developments “good news” because a legal precedent requiring companies to write backdoors is incredibly dangerous to the security of millions.

“This case was always about more than access to a single phone. It was an attempt to set a legal precedent that requires any company to undermine their users’ security at the FBI’s request,” Opsahl said in a statement. “Security is vital to protect the information on your phone, and the FBI should work to enhance user security, not against it.”

Evan Greer, campaign director for the digital rights group Fight for the Future, said in a statement Monday that the case was never about an iPhone, but a “grab for power” by the govement.

“The FBI already had the capability to hack this phone using forensic tools, but they thought this case would be a slam dunk — a way for them to set a dangerous precedent that they’ve wanted for years,” Greer said.

Jeff Lyon, chief technology officer at Fight for the Future, said in a statement Monday that his organization still plans to be at the Riverside courthouse Tuesday to display on an LCD computer screen and to read aloud thousands of Idea gathered in an Inteet campaign from people supporting Apple.

Advertisement

“The FBI might be ruing away from their own hearing, but we’re not,” Lyon said. “We’ll still be outside the courthouse to make sure those people’s voices are heard, because this fight is far from over.”