Here is a copy of the Order from U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym in California requiring Apple to render “reasonable technical assistance” to the FBI in obtaining access to an iPhone used by one the San Bernardino terror shooters.
I have previously argued that, under appropriate circumstances and pursuant to a search warrant, the government should be able to obtain passwords and decryption keys from suspects necessary to obtain the plaintext versions of files on seized devices. The Apple case, however, is different because the court is ordering a non-suspect third party technology company to actively assist with an investigation. While I might support carefully tailored legislation regarding law enforcement access to encryption keys, a court order such as this one without specific statutory authorization seems troubling.
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