14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has recently sued the US government to put an end to gag orders when law enforcement agencies access user data, but Apple also has its own war with Uncle Sam, this time over data encryption.
In a recent congressional testimony, Apple’s general counsel Bruce Sewell denied claims that the company handed over iOS source code to China, explaining that the firm was indeed asked by the Beijing government to share such information, but it refused.
“We have been asked by the Chinese government,” Sewell said. “We refused. I want to be very clear on this. We have not provided source code to the Chinese government.”
Accusations that the company provided the Chinese government with access to iOS source code first came from Captain Charles Cohen, commander in the Indiana State Police, who repeatedly said that Apple worked together with Beijing authorities, as it was hoping for weaker regulations in the local market.
“Such claims are part of FBI’s war against us”
According to Reuters, when asked by California Democrat Anna Eshoo about his sources, Cohen “was visibly frustrated” and cited news reports for a rather vague answer. “That takes my breath away. That is a huge allegation.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying also refused to provide any information on these claims, simply stating that she did not understand the case.
Apple previously denied all these accusations, saying that they were part of the war against the US government over the encryption system employed on its iPhones, as the company refused to help the FBI break into devices used in criminal activities. Cupertino was asked by the feds to help unlock the phone used by one of the San Bernardino attacks, but Apple refused to do it, saying that it would only create more security and privacy threats.
FBI eventually managed to unlock the phone with help from an unnamed group of hackers who reportedly hacked the device using an undisclosed vulnerability in iOS.