Apple has officially filed to have a judge throw out a court order that would require the company to help the FBI hack into an iPhone 5c used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook. The filing argues that forcing Apple to create a backdoor to defeat the security on its devices would potentially threaten the security and privacy of millions of users.
Apple says the government has misapplied the 200-year-old law to force Apple to develop software that would defeat security on the iPhone used by one of the attackers.
“Apple strongly supports, and will continue to support, the efforts of law enforcement in pursuing justice against terrorists and other criminals — just as it has in this case and others,” Apple argued. “But the unprecedented order requested by the government finds no support in law and would violate the Constitution.”
Although the government stated its request is narrow, and specifically for Farook’s phone, Apple maintains that is not true, and that law enforcement agencies will make use of the “hack” to unlock other devices seized due by law enforcement.
“Once the floodgates open, they cannot be closed,” Apple wrote. “And the device security that Apple has worked so tirelessly to achieve will be unwound without so much as a congressional vote.”
The 36 page legal filing can read below:
