Sorry, NSA: iPhone 6 locks out US spies

The move raises a critical issue, the intelligence officials say: Who decides what kind of data the government can access? Until now, those decisions have largely been a matter for Congress, which passed the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act in 1994, requiring telecommunications companies to build into their systems an ability to carry out a wiretap order if presented with one. But despite intense debate about whether the law should be expanded to cover email and other content, it has not been updated, and it does not cover content contained in a smartphone.

At Apple and Google, company executives say the United States government brought these changes on itself. The revelations by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden not only killed recent efforts to expand the law, but also made nations around the world suspicious that every piece of American hardware and software from phones to servers made by Cisco Systems have "back doors" for American intelligence and law enforcement.

Surviving in the global marketplace especially in places like China, Brazil and Germany depends on convincing consumers that their data is secure.

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Timothy D. Cook, Apple's chief executive, has emphasized that Apple's core business is to sell devices to people. That distinguishes Apple from companies that make a profit from collecting and selling users' personal data to advertisers, he has said.

This month, just before releasing the iPhone 6 and iOS 8, Apple took steps to underscore its commitment to customer privacy, publishing a revised privacy policy on its website.

The policy described the encryption method used in iOS 8 as so deep that Apple could no longer comply with government warrants asking for customer information to be extracted from devices. "Unlike our competitors, Apple cannot bypass your passcode, and therefore cannot access this data," the company said.

Under the new encryption method, only entering the passcode can decrypt the device. (Hypothetically, Apple could create a tool to hack into the device, but legally the company is not required to do that.)

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Sorry, NSA: iPhone 6 locks out US spies