Representative Adam Schiff has changed his stand in the issues raised by Apple, as it refuses to provide technical assistance in the unlocking of the iPhone linked to the San Bernardino shooter. Two weeks ago, Schiff said that he is not convinced that a legislative approach is in order.
Apple vowed to resist the FBI demand to crack the subject iPhone and said that it would fight any court order that will mandate it to do so. The company explained that such rule will set a "dangerous precedent" that will compromise the security features of its products, Reuters reported.
The development raises an issue on whether or not authorities can be granted a special access to the security measures used by tech companies to protect the privacy of their consumers.
Apple has said that even if officers obtain a warrant, they cannot assist the authorities in decrypting the key because Apple devices are precisely engineered in such a way that even Apple does not have a decryption key. In other words, it is only the user who will be able to unlock the phone.
For its part, the Justice Department regards the locked phone as a big hindrance in possibly gaining a crucial piece of evidence on the shooting rampage that killed 14 people, The Washington Post reported.
Since 2014, Apple and the FBI has locked horns when the company began making iPhones that features additional encryption software that could not be unlocked not withstanding a court order by virtue of consumer privacy and cybersecurity, The Guardian reported. In this case, the suspect's iPhone 5c is locked while the investigators are looking into the radical influence of Islamic terrorist groups on the suspected shooter.
A federal judge recently issued an order for Apple to make it easier for federal agents to hack the phone and to turn off any "auto erase" function on the phone. Apple said that it will take five and a half years to decrypt a single device by guessing every possible passcode.
