Trump slams Apple over iPhone privacy protection
iPhone maker criticised for not allowing authorities access to devices
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Apple’s refusal to unlock individual iPhone devices connected to criminal cases has been heavily criticised by President Donald Trump.
The US commander-in-chief tweeted that Apple was refusing to unlock iPhones “used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements”.
“They will have to step up to the plate and help out great Country, NOW!” the tweet added.
We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements. They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country, NOW! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.January 14, 2020
Assistance
The news follows a statement earlier this week from US Attorney General William Barr that accused Apple of not being helpful in an inquiry into a shooting that is being treated as a terrorist act.
Barr said that Apple had not provided “substantive assistance” to unlock two iPhones connected to an investigation into the fatal shooting of three US sailors at a naval base in Florida last year.
Apple rejected the claim that it had failed to assist officials in their investigation, noting that it had responded to seven separate legal requests from federal investigators following the shooting.
This included handing over “many gigabytes” of data to the authorities, withiCloudbackups, account information and transactional data for multiple accounts all passed over
Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
“Our responses to their many requests since the attack have been timely, thorough and are ongoing,” it said in a statement.
Apple has peviously said it is unable to access data on any device that is encrypted with a passcode without building a specific “backdoor tool”. Earlier this week,MicrosoftCEOSatya Nadellacriticised the increasing use of backdoors in the technology industry, which undermine the privacy of users across the world.
The US government and Apple haveclashed several times in the past, most notably following a mass shooting that saw 14 people killed in San Bernardino, California, where the company Apple refused to help authorities gain access to the gunman’s iPhone.
Mike Moore is Deputy Editor at TechRadar Pro. He has worked as a B2B and B2C tech journalist for nearly a decade, including at one of the UK’s leading national newspapers and fellow Future title ITProPortal, and when he’s not keeping track of all the latest enterprise and workplace trends, can most likely be found watching, following or taking part in some kind of sport.
This new malware utilizes a rare programming language to evade traditional detection methods
A new form of macOS malware is being used by devious North Korean hackers
Arcane season 2 confirms the hit series isn’t just one of the best Netflix shows ever made – it’s an animated legend that’ll stand the test of time
