Apple disagrees with the US government. UU. While the encryption battle restarts – NewsDio

Apple and the US government disagree for the second time in four years by unlocking iPhones connected to a mass shooting, reviving the debate about police access to encrypted devices.

Attorney General Bill Barr said on Monday that Apple did not provide "substantive assistance" by unlocking two iPhones in the shooting investigation of three US sailors in December at a Florida naval station, which he called an "act of terrorism. "

Apple disputed Barr's claim, while arguing against the idea of "back doors" for the police to access their encrypted smartphones.

"We reject the characterization that Apple has not provided substantive assistance in Pensacola's investigation," the company said in a statement.

"Our responses to your many requests since the attack have been timely, thorough and ongoing."

On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump intervened on Twitter and said the government was helping Apple in business matters "but they refuse to unlock phones used by murderers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements."

"They will have to step forward and help our great country, NOW!" he added.

The confrontation highlighted the debate between the police and the technology sector on encryption, a key way to protect the privacy of digital communications, but that can also hinder investigations, even with a court order.

The last battle is similar to the dispute between Apple and the US Department of Justice. UU. After the mass shooting of December 2015 in San Bernardino, California, when the iPhone manufacturer rejected a request to develop software to enter the shooter's iPhone.

That fight ended in 2016 when the government paid a $ 1 million report to an outside party for a tool that eluded Apple's iPhone encryption.

Last year, Barr asked Facebook to allow authorities to bypass encryption to combat extremism, child pornography and other crimes. The social network has said it would move forward with strong encryption for its messaging applications.

Digital rights activists argue that any privileged access to law enforcement would weaken security and make it easier for hackers and authoritarian governments to intercept messages.

"We have always maintained that there is no backdoor just for the good guys," Apple's statement said.

"The back doors can also be exploited by those who threaten our national security and the security of our customers' data."

Apple and others argue that digital "bread crumbs" make it easier and easier to track people, even without entering personal devices.

The governments latest lawsuit "is dangerous and unconstitutional, and would weaken the security of millions of iPhones," Jennifer Granick of the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement.

"Strong encryption allows religious minorities facing genocide, such as Uyghurs in China, and journalists investigating powerful drug cartels in Mexico to communicate safely."

Granick added that Apple cannot allow the FBI to access encrypted communications "without also providing it to authoritarian foreign governments and weakening our defenses against criminals and hackers."

Kurt Opsahl, of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, echoed that sentiment and said Apple "is right to provide solid security" for its devices.

"The AG (attorney general) asks Apple to redesign its phones to break that security is poor security compensation and endangers millions of innocent people around the world," Opsahl tweeted.

James Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a group of Washington experts, said he believes it is possible to allow police access without sacrificing encryption.

"You are not weakening encryption, you are doing it so that it is not from end to end," Lewis told AFP.

"It means that there is a third party who can see it under the proper authority."

But Lewis said he does not expect either party to win the battle, and that US officials will likely find another outside party to decipher the two iPhones that belong to the shooter, the 2nd lieutenant of the Royal Saudi Air Force Mohammed Saeed Alshamran, who died in the attack

"It's a repeat of the movie we saw in San Bernardino," he said.

"It's going to be more difficult because Apple probably solved the trick that worked in San Bernardino."

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Apple disagrees with the US government. UU. While the encryption battle restarts - NewsDio