After the court laid down its verdict demanding Apple Inc. to unlock the encrypted iPhone of San Bernardino shooters, the newly hired outside lawyer said in his first statement in the case, that the order could imperil the privacy of millions of people around the world.
In an ABC report, Former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson stated, "This is not just one magistrate in San Bernardino. There are hundreds of magistrates, there are hundreds of other courts."
He also added that following the order would open a 'Pandora's box' on privacy issue and there would be no limitation on what the government could require Apple to do.
In effect, "It could also help foreign government to get access to iPhone data," Olson emphasized.
In an earlier statement to Apple CEO Tim Cook, obeying the order would require the company to create a digital version of a "master key" for all iPhones, and that could expose millions of owners worldwide to dangerous intrusions.
Cook has chosen to stand for privacy and will oppose the order, as released in an open letter to customers.
He emphatically stated that to compromise the security of the personal information can ultimately put the personal safety at risk. This is also the reason behind the importance of encryption.
"For many years, we have used encryption to protect our customers' personal data because we believe it's the only way to keep their information safe. We have even put that data out of our own reach, because we believe the contents of your iPhone are none of our business," he added.
Meanwhile, the FBI clarified that San Bernardino County technicians acted without the agency's consent when they reset the password for the Apple iCloud account belonging to one of the shooters involved in the Dec. 2 terror attack at a county facility that killed 14 people.
"This is not true," FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said in a statement released. "FBI investigators worked cooperatively with the county of San Bernardino in order to exploit crucial data contained in the iCloud account associated with a county-issued iPhone that was assigned to the terror suspect, Syed Rizwan Farook."
No evidence has surfaced so far to indicate Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were in contact with terrorists, or had received outside support, before the attack, which left 14 people dead. The couple were later killed in a shootout with police.
Civil liberties groups warn that forcing companies to crack their own encryption endangers the technical integrity of the Internet and threatens not just the privacy of customers, but potentially that of citizens of any country.
Most technology security experts, including many who have served in government opined that technical efforts to provide government access to encrypted devices inevitably degrades security for everyone since 1990s.
The right to privacy is a human right and an element of various legal traditions which may restrain both government and private party action that threatens the privacy of individuals. It is also Constitutional right which is innate in every citizen of the country.
