[NewsPoster]

The fight between Apple and a US magistrate judge (and the FBI) over whether a company can be forced by the government to install a backdoor that compromises the security of users has finally brought out some strong support of Apple's pro-privacy position from some prominent players in the tech industry. Following ambiguous statements expressing mild support from Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Microsoft head Satya Nadella, Twitter CEO tweeted an unequivocal "we stand with Tim Cook and Apple (and thank him for his leadership)!" message on Thursday.

A statement from Facebook also appeared in USA Today, in which the billion-user social service said it would "fight aggressively" against government overreach, adding that the FBI's demand to force Apple to override its own security "would create a chilling precedent." Apple has garnered support from other quarters, including billionaire Mark Cuban, WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum, and the ACLU. Many publications and journalists have also pointed out the simple premise behind Cook's opposition: "either everyone gets security, or no one does."

We stand with @tim_cook and Apple (and thank him for his leadership)! https://t.co/XrnGC9seZ4

- Jack (@jack) February 18, 2016

On the legal front, Apple has been given until February 26 -- later than the original five days US Judge Sheri Pym decreed -- to file a challenge to her ruling. On Friday, the US Department of Justice filed a motion with the district court to force Apple to comply with the judge's order immediately -- despite the fact that there is no evidence of any useful information on the iPhone 5c recovered from the dead gunman, and no urgency in conducting the fishing expedition the FBI is hoping for.

Critics have charged the FBI with deliberately fearmonging the case to convince authorities to weaken general privacy protections -- such as the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution -- to allow agencies to override security concerns and "break into" smartphones and other personal computing devices without strong evidence of criminal contents. "Make no mistake: this is what a backdoor looks like," cautions security technologist Bruce Schneier.

"The FBI's demands are specific to one phone, which might make its request seem reasonable if you don't consider the technological implications: the hacked software the court and the FBI wants Apple to provide would be general. It would work on any phone of the same model. It has to. This is an existing vulnerability in iPhone security that could be exploited by anyone," he wrote in an article for the Washington Post. "What the FBI wants to do would make us less secure, even though it's in the name of keeping us safe from harm."

"Powerful governments, democratic and totalitarian alike, want access to user data for both law enforcement and social control. We cannot build a backdoor that only works for a particular type of government, or only in the presence of a particular court order. The current case is about a single iPhone 5c, but the precedent it sets will apply to all smartphones, computers, cars and everything the Internet of Things promises. The FBI may be targeting the iPhone of the San Bernardino shooter, but its actions imperil us all."

As Schneier points out, other governments will demand the same access to smartphone information if the US demands it. Government whistleblower Edward Snowden, for example, noted (and posted a picture of) three paragraphs published -- and then quickly removed -- from a report in The New York Times regarding Chinese reaction to the current privacy imbruglio. In part, the vanished reporting said that "analysts say the Chinese government does take cues from United States when it comes to encryption regulations, and that it would most likely demand that multinational companies provide accommodations similar to those in United States."

The New York Times: @FBI's war on #Apple will aid China. https://t.co/URWamc702q pic.twitter.com/KnHDsWIENY

- Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 17, 2016

"Last year, Beijing backed off several proposals that would have mandated that foreign firms providing encryption keys for devices sold in China after heavy pressure from foreign trade groups," the removed text said. "… a push from American law enforcement agencies to unlock iPhones would embolden Beijing to demand the same." The DOJ, in its filing demanding Apple comply with the judge's order immediately, said that Apple's objection is not borne out of constitutional concerns, but "appears to be based on its concern for its business model and public brand marketing strategy."

In a report on the DOJ involving itself in the case, The New York Times noted that "Apple's lawyers are expected to file by next Friday their formal response to this week's order ... they are likely to argue that the Justice Department's demands and the judge's order go beyond the government's statutory powers in gathering and searching for evidence under the All Writs Act, a law dating to 1789 used in the current case." Apple has reportedly engaged free-speech advocate and former US Solicitor General Theodore Olsen, among others, to help defend itself from the court order.

[bobolicious]

...every year now I debate if I will return to the US for an annual holiday because of what is questioned as the 'state of the nation' - this issue indeed seems to go beyond the issue of privacy...

I feel concern for the many kind & generous Americans I have met, because of issues like this. Did the NSA prove that current US governance has a role in public trust? Did the state herald a court vindicated whistle blower exposing oath denied constitutional illegalities? Does the state continue to pursue persecution...?

Does this relate as well to the 2009 financial crisis? Has anyone truly at fault been meaningfully punished?

Recent statements by a certain outspoken Republican candidate have me asking what might become of America if he should become the next President, somewhat from within, but mostly in terms of global relations...?

...as the life giving aquifers are drained & irretrievably fracked, soil nutrients are systematically drawn down, ecosystems are converted into 'product' and plastic waste replaces fish...

I continue to ask if the US is mindful of the zeitgeist this current push may both represent & inherit...?

Is access to privacy merely a desperation symptom of a declining exploitation 'culture' running out of resources...?

Originally Posted by NewsPoster 

despite the fact that there is no evidence of any useful information on the iPhone 5c recovered from the dead gunman, and no urgency in conducting the fishing expedition the FBI is hoping for.

False, the FBI is not looking for a fishing expedition. We don't know what they know/expect is on a criminal's phone. So trust that they know what they are doing.

Originally Posted by NewsPoster 

the hacked software the court and the FBI wants Apple to provide...would work on any phone of the same model. It has to. This is an existing vulnerability in iPhone security that could be exploited by anyone.... What the FBI wants to do would make us less secure, even though it's in the name of keeping us safe from harm

No, it can't be exploited by "anyone," and no, the FBI does not want to make us less secure.

This is the paranoia that is happening because people don't want to put their trust in the government's handling of encrypted data. This is not a vulnerability. This is a procedure that should be trusted in Apple's hands and in the hands of law enforcement, and guarded and secured.

So, everyone:

1. Start trusting the government, and knock all this anti-government B.S. off.

2. Start trusting that this technology will be protected and will help law enforcement to go after the bad guys, and that the rest of our phones will not be compromised. Can you do that? And anyone who uses the technology in malicious ways that others fear is already violating the user agreement and should face the consequences.

3. Get off your "violation of my privacy" high horses. Do you really think that the FBI cares about your phone or your friends' phones? No, just criminals phones in current cases where a real life threat is present.

4. This debate will come up again. I guarantee it. It will start with phones, then go to other devices, such as computers and the Apple iCar (oops, I didn't say they're making one).

I do not want people snooping/stalking me either. But this isn't about ordinary people being snooped. This is about manslaughter, either planned or executed, and these cases are taken seriously and should be for the sake of your short-lived life on a sin-ridden planet.

So go take offense to what I'm saying because you still expect that the "backdoor" will be used for way more harm than anything else. I'm tired of arguing with everyone and their ridiculous fears on this issue.

[Ragnarok Odin]

If you're tired of arguing with everyone, then just leave this site, you government shill. I'm sure most of us are tired of you.

[Mike Wuerthele]

1: I was in the military, am a conservative, and I don't trust the government. You can, if you'd like. I don't, and that is actually my right to do so. I get to think that they're wrong, and say so, in private or in public, and not have to worry about jackbooted thought-police kicking in my door.

My line for what I feel is governmental intrusion doesn't have to match yours.

I like my roads, and my schools. I'm fine with taxation, to supply these things. There is a line, though, that in the interest of some form of safety we passed a long time ago.

2: Yes, because government or big-business technology never, ever falls into somebody else's hands because somebody in a position of trust wants to make a buck. User agreements? That's a deterrent? And law enforcement never, ever abuses their power, right?

3: There is no real life threat, and the FBI has admitted it several times. This is a workplace shooting, no more, and no less, and they say so. So, where's the need for justice or investigation?

4: Yeah the debate will come up again, and that's why it needs to be fought, each and every time.

I'm not taking offense to what you're saying. You think I'm wrong, and you think I'm wrong, and that's fine. That's the beauty of a free country, though. You and I can both say what we want.

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by And.reg 

This is the paranoia that is happening because people don't want to put their trust in the government's handling of encrypted data.

So, everyone:

1. Start trusting the government, and knock all this anti-government B.S. off.

WOW, seriously? Trust is an earned thing. The government hasn't earned trust, and continually breaks it. Heck, I trust the terrorists more than the gov't at this point, because at least they are being honest about what they are up to (as much as I disagree with it). The government is constantly propagandizing us with one story, while doing something else.

My gosh... it isn't 'conspiracy theory' when it's known fact. It's just that most people are paying attention. Wake up!

Just listen to Congressional Dish podcast, where the host actually reads and explains what is going on in Congress, right before our eyes and ears. Then, if you can still honestly say we should trust the government, I'll be happy take up your argument, point by point.

[Charles Martin]

Let me just ask this Native American guy over here if we can always trust the US government ...

[prl99]

Thank you macnn editors. I am in total agreement with your stance. Maybe @And.reg hasn't read the latest information about the FBI telling the County IT staff to change the passcode of the iPhone without contacting Apple first to see if it would mess things up. This is the type of thing that gives the FBI and the US government a bad name. The more we find out about how the FBI messed things up and then are blaming Apple for not wanting to fix the FBI's mistake, the more we learn about how incompetent the FBI is. Congress, the FBI, NSA, and CIA all need to go on a retreat and do some soul searching to understand how out of touch they are from their constituents.

"Government of the people, by the people and (especially) for the people" is not what any of them are doing.

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by prl99 

Thank you macnn editors. I am in total agreement with your stance. Maybe @And.reg hasn't read the latest information about the FBI telling the County IT staff to change the passcode of the iPhone without contacting Apple first to see if it would mess things up. This is the type of thing that gives the FBI and the US government a bad name. The more we find out about how the FBI messed things up and then are blaming Apple for not wanting to fix the FBI's mistake, the more we learn about how incompetent the FBI is. Congress, the FBI, NSA, and CIA all need to go on a retreat and do some soul searching to understand how out of touch they are from their constituents.

"Government of the people, by the people and (especially) for the people" is not what any of them are doing.

And, don't even get me going on the very high percentage of incidents, foreign and domestic, are actually instigated BY these agencies! Totally outta control