The Justice Department has asked U.S. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein to compel Apple to allow the government a back door into iPhones for law enforcement purposes.
Apple’s response:
“In most cases now and in the future, the government’s requested order would be substantially burdensome, as it would be impossible to perform. For devices running iOS 8 or higher, Apple would not have the technical ability to do what the government requests to take possession of a password protected device from the government and extract unencrypted user data from that device for the government. Among the security features in iOS 8 is a feature that prevents anyone without the device’s passcode from accessing the device’s encrypted data. This includes Apple.”
Why this matters: Apple continues to affirm that the information stored on your iPhone is accessible only to you. While privacy policies are reassuring, Apple backs up its words with technology. This prevents the company from offering services that its competitors do. Like powerful photo analysis, because it actually can’t access your data.
