14 DAY TRIAL // Apple and the government have been engaged in a bitter war over encryption and security practices employed in Apple’s iOS devices to the point where a Department of Justice official actually told the iPhone maker in a meeting that, in the future, Cupertino might end up being responsible for a child’s death.
Now Apple is taking another hit from Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance JR, who’s calling out to law enforcement agencies to help with the battle against the Cupertino company (and Google for that matter) and its software that doesn't allow investigators to perform cellphone decryption during criminal investigations (via NY Post).
Is Apple's policy putting us all at risk?
Vance JR even went as far as to say that Apple makes the perfect devices for terrorists. Just as UK drug dealers love the Nokia 8210 because it comes devoid of Bluetooth, near-field connectivity or Wi-Fi, so they don’t have to worry about being trailed, terrorists might come to appreciate the “perks” of the iPhone.
“Apple has created a phone that is dark, that cannot be accessed by law enforcement even when a court has authorized us to look at is contents,” Vance said.
Following the footsteps of Apple, Google announced the implementation of similar software in its Lollipop-based Android phones, which prevents prosecutors from getting the information they need from the handsets.
Even so, the search giant revised its decision, and by virtue of a later change, it allowed some phones to bypass the imposed setting.
Google and Apple’s grasp over the mobile ecosystem is so extensive that it covers up to 96% of the entire mobile world, which means the majority of mobile devices have become inaccessible to police and law enforcement.
Apple and Google are holding their ground
Now for all devices that run iOS 8.0 or later (iOS 8.0 launched back on September 17, 2014), Apple will not extract data when prompted by police. That’s because the encryption key used in the service is intrinsically tied to the user’s passcode, something that Apple doesn't have access to.
Both Google and Apple have defended their stance, but they have also admitted that customer demand was a big reason for making this decision.