The war of words for the hearts an minds of the public continues between Apple and U.S. law enforcement agencies, as New York Police Department counter-terrorism head John Miller fired the latest broadside, accusing Apple of aiding criminals by using encryption to secure its mobile devices.
The high-profile deputy police commissioner slammed Apple over its controversial iPhone encryption policy in an appearance on John Catsimatidis’s The Cats Roundtable radio show.
“I still don’t know what made [Apple] change their minds and decide to actually design a system that made them not able to aid the police,” Miller told Catsimatidis.
“You are actually providing aid to the kidnappers, robbers and murderers who have actually been recorded on the telephones in Riker’s Island telling their compatriots on the outside, ‘You gotta get iOS 8. It’s a gift from God,’ — and that’s a quote — ‘because the cops can’t crack it,’” said Miller.
New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance shared that same account during last week’s U.S. congressional hearing, where he claimed his agency has been unable to access 175 iPhones linked to criminal activity, due to Apple’s encryption.
While the U.S government had previously maintained that they were seeking access to only one iPhone – an iPhone 5c used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook – previous quotes from law enforcement officials, Miller included, indicate that is not the case.
“Right now Cy Vance, the Manhattan district attorney, has 175 iPhones stacked up in his office that are subject to search warrants, issued by judges, involved in crimes,” Miller fumed.
Last month a U.S. federal judge ordered Apple to aid federal investigators in their effort to access data on the iPhone 5c used by Farook. Apple has officially opposed that order, and the company will now face off in court against the FBI on March 22.
