



Tim Cook iPhones

Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, has repeatedly emphasized the company’s dedication to user privacy and security.



The source code threat

One of the central arguments around this issue is whether or not providing software to unlock the iPhone 5c in question is overly burdensome. Apple maintains that requiring it to break the security protections it builds into its own devices is a substantial burden, while the FBI maintains that it is not. The government notes that it remains willing to work with Apple to find a way to reduce the burden of breaking into the device, then writes:


That’s a threat, not a friendly offer, and it underscores an important point in this debate. When Edward Snowden’s leaks revealed the existence of Prism and the cooperation that many US companies had been forced to offer, users were justifiably angry at the idea that companies they trusted with their personal data were providing information in investigations where no warrants had been filed and little oversight existed.

As more information came to light, we learned that several firms, including Yahoo had fought these orders at multiple levels and been defeated. Some of you may also recall what happened to the secure email provider Lavabit, and how the company was forced to shut down. The government paints a picture of corporate cooperation, but what actually happens behind closed doors is anything but friendly. The reason we’re hearing about this case at all is that the FBI chose to make it public, betting that the circumstances of the case and the horrific San Bernardino shooting would help it win the court of public opinion and establish a precedent for forcing companies to break their own encryption. Given the imminent expansion of FBI access to the NSA’s own databases, there’s no sign the government is backing down on its efforts to pull in ever more data.

Is security a selling point?

The DOJ’s brief argues repeatedly that this is nothing but a marketing ploy by Apple, but real life tends to suggest otherwise. Customer surveys show that many people claim to care about security, but repeated security investigations show very few people actually understand it.

Target sales are still brisk. Lenovo’s still shipping millions of laptops. Samsung sales escaped unscathed. Vizio TVs are still selling well, too. People still buy Android phones by the hundreds of millions across the world, despite multiple potentially devastating bugs and very little in the way of coherent solutions. When consumers say they value security, what they actually mean is “I want the word ‘secure’ printed somewhere on the box.”

The DOJ is arguing that all of this is a ploy to attract customers, but there’s little evidence it is. Apple’s current iPhone 6s marketing page mentions (in order): 3D Touch / Multi-Touch (two sections), the iPhone’s front and back cameras, the A9 SoC, the phone’s physical design, Touch ID security, faster Wi-Fi, and various accessories. There’s nothing related to full device encryption and no sign Apple is seeking to use this as a prominent sales feature.

All of this may be moot in the future; Apple is reportedly working on a device that would be impossible for even it to hack. It’s not at all clear how this would work without compromising other aspects of the device, like the ability to update firmware or repair a malfunctioning device via forced software update.