Apple battle with FBI on encryption isn't ending yet; it just changes venues

The government has withdrawn its case against Apple in relation to the San Bernardino shooting.

Surprised by the filing, the tech giant promised to seek information about the party who hacked their phone and the method used to do so, if the case progressed. But now that the government has discontinued, Apple will have no way of knowing who accessed and how their phone was hacked. Engadget quoted The Guardian as saying the government considered the feat classified.

After more than a month of motions, hearings and public spats, the Department of Justice moved to vacate their motion to compel Apple to bypass their own security encryption in order to access the iPhone 5C of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook. The government acknowledged the success of a third party in hacking into the phone and it claimed it did not need the help of Apple anymore.

Citing guarantees afforded by the Fourth Amendment that broadly included data protection, security and privacy, Apple objected to the government's motion which finds its backbone in an antiquated law called the All Writs Act of 1789. 

It seems that Apple's victory is short-lived, however, as the US Attorney's office, recode reported, has informed a federal judge in Brooklyn on April 8 that the government wants to pursue its motion to ask the help of Apple in accessing the phone seized in a drug case.

 Apple had requested a delay in the case in order to determine if the mechanism used to hack Farook's phone can be used in the instant situation. Nonetheless, the FBI claims that the technique referred to can only be used in a narrow category of iPhones. In other words, they would still need the help of Apple to crack newer versions of the device.

"As the FBI Director recently indicated, the mechanism used in the San Bernardino case can only be used on a narrow category of phones," said Emily Pierce, a spokesperson for the Justice Department. "In this case, we still need Apple's help in accessing the data, which they have done with little effort in at least 70 other cases when presented with court orders for comparable phones running iOS 7 or earlier operating systems." 

Moreover, in Massachusetts, News Everyday reported that a US magistrate judge has signed an order demanding that Apple retrieve data uploaded through the suspect's iPhone last year in order to help police investigate suspected gang crimes, according to documents uploaded by ACLU. The report did not reveal if Apple complied with the order or if it has issued a statement regarding its position.

"The government continues to require Apple's assistance in accessing the data that it is authorized to search by warrant," Justice Department lawyers told US District Court Judge Margo Brodie in a written filing.

Meanwhile, lawyers for Apple were again fuming at what appeared to be the government's new attempt to create a troubling legal precedent in fighting crime.

Apple attorneys said they planned to counter-appeal the government's stance in the New York case by stressing in court the need to find out if the government has done everything possible without the company's help to get the data it seeks and by continuing to argue that the request is not backed by law.

Tags

Apple, FBI, encryption, Law Enforcement, Fourth Amendment, All Writs Act of 1789

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