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Other US law enforcement branches desirous of iPhone penetration tool
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Feb 23, 2016, 08:26 AM
 
Belying claims that US law enforcement only wants Apple to break into one iPhone, it turns out that the US Justice Department has 12 iPhones that they are driving through the courts. In addition, in New York City, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. has declared that he has 175 that he'd like to break into, should the FBI set the precedent, and force Apple to construct the ability to assist law enforcement to penetrate the iOS.

Following Tim Cook's letter to its customers after the court order mandating Apple assist with the San Bernadino shooter's work iPhone 5c, New York City police commissioner, William J. Bratton, and Vance soundly criticized Apple for its stance on the matter to the New York Times. When Vance was queried by Charlie Rose about if he would petition for backdoor access to the phones in NYC Police custody in a similar fashion to the FBI's custom firmware that it is demanding, his response was simply "absolutely right."

Dan Guido, the founder of the security firm Trail of Bits said of the matter that "I think Apple was hoping that the request that came was more outrageous. The FBI was very adroit. They waited for the perfect situation where they had all these factors aligned so the request looks pretty straightforward."

Former White House security policy director Jason Healey believes of the FBI's request that "by making its request so targeted, Apple has fewer grounds to argue their side than had the government asked it to permanently change its code." Healey is now a research scholar at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

The dozen Department of Justice cases are all also utilizing the All Writs Act, the same as the FBI, to compel Apple. One of the cases cited by the Wall Street Journal was the case in New York City, involving a drug dealer's iPhone that was locked under an older version of the iOS. In that cas, there was no trial held as a result of the guilty plea, so the information on the iPhone was rendered moot. In San Bernadino, there will also be no trial, as the shooters were killed in an altercation with police following the massacre.
     
DiabloConQueso
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Feb 23, 2016, 10:10 AM
 
What a surprise. No one saw that coming.
     
Spudboy2004
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Feb 23, 2016, 12:52 PM
 
It's not the phone at the center of this controversy that they want to get into. It's one of the 175 that they have that they really want to get into, We'll never find out which one or why but that is what is interesting to me.
     
chimaera
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Feb 23, 2016, 02:25 PM
 
So the NYPD is the hand behind the curtain, controlling all the FBI's moves? Um...

No, this is not about any particular phone. It's about power. They want more, and our privacy rights are in the way. This is the way to get more.
     
Mike Wuerthele
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Feb 23, 2016, 04:02 PM
 
Originally Posted by chimaera View Post
So the NYPD is the hand behind the curtain, controlling all the FBI's moves? Um...

No, this is not about any particular phone. It's about power. They want more, and our privacy rights are in the way. This is the way to get more.
Yeah, these revelations, which I don't think came as any surprise, are about how the tool that Apple may be forced to make will expand beyond the FBI's claim, or intent.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Feb 23, 2016, 04:16 PM
 
Originally Posted by Mike Wuerthele View Post
Yeah, these revelations, which I don't think came as any surprise, are about how the tool that Apple may be forced to make will expand beyond the FBI's claim, or intent.
Strange how both Apple and everybody else watching, knew exactly that this would be the consequence, but the FBI somehow didn't figure it.

Hmm.
     
Mike Wuerthele
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Feb 23, 2016, 04:24 PM
 
Yeah, there's some other crap about this not being the first time the FBI has used the All Writs to compel this kind of thing. Stand by.
     
Flying Meat
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Feb 23, 2016, 05:08 PM
 
Quite a bit more disturbing to me is that the Judge, DOJ, and the White House seem to be unable to grasp the full ramifications, or to recall even recent history regarding overreach.
     
Mike Wuerthele
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Feb 23, 2016, 05:35 PM
 
Originally Posted by Flying Meat View Post
Quite a bit more disturbing to me is that the Judge, DOJ, and the White House seem to be unable to grasp the full ramifications, or to recall even recent history regarding overreach.
Oh, I'm pretty sure that they've got a grip on the ramifications of both, but I don't think that their view is the same.

Turns out that Gallup has some poll numbers which say that the country is split on the matter, with a slight lead given to those who want Apple to pop open the phone. We're doing some this weekend about the matter and we'll likely get more than 1000 respondents, we'll see how it goes.
     
Charles Martin
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Feb 23, 2016, 05:46 PM
 
Though of course this is NOT a matter that should be decided by fleeting and transitory public opinion. It's a matter of law, and should be decided by a clear-eyed jurist who remembers the Fourth Amendment, in my view.
Charles Martin
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Steve Wilkinson
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Feb 25, 2016, 02:11 AM
 
Originally Posted by Charles Martin View Post
Though of course this is NOT a matter that should be decided by fleeting and transitory public opinion. It's a matter of law, and should be decided by a clear-eyed jurist who remembers the Fourth Amendment, in my view.
No doubt... the question is, how many of those types still exist, and what are the odds of getting one?
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