Apple: This case should never have been brought
- mar
- 29
Apple to continue to aid law enforcement while protecting privacy and security.
Apple has issued a statement concerning the Department of Justice withdrawing its demand under the All Writs Act that the company aid in creating a version of iOS that would faster and easier for the government to hack into.
From the beginning, we objected to the FBI's demand that Apple build a backdoor into the iPhone because we believed it was wrong and would set a dangerous precedent. As a result of the government's dismissal, neither of these occurred. This case should never have been brought.
We will continue to help law enforcement with their investigations, as we have done all along, and we will continue to increase the security of our products as the threats and attacks on our data become more frequent and more sophisticated.
Apple believes deeply that people in the United States and around the world deserve data protection, security and privacy. Sacrificing one for the other only puts people and countries at greater risk.
This case raised issues which deserve a national conversation about our civil liberties, and our collective security and privacy. Apple remains committed to participating in that discussion.
Some dramatic cinema retelling of these events one day might well show an FBI that wanted a precedent granting law enforcement sweeping powers of intrusion. When public sentiment and legal interpretation swung against them, however, the Department of Justice chose to bail rather than risk opposing precedent. But no one is making that movie. Yet.
What's clear is that while this case is over, the issue has not been solved. It's been put on hold. And that just means everyone needs to stay aware, lest the right to privacy be similarly encroached again.
