Is Apple's iOS 8 Encryption at Odds with the Justice Department?
Earlier today we posted a report titled "Apple's iPhone 6 goes on Sale in China October 17 after Ensuring China's Ministry that there's no Secret Backdoors." Apple's iPhone 6 was originally to have debuted in China on September 19 when the news struck that Apple didn't have the right license. Yet we now know there was also some backroom politicking going on. Now that Apple has ensured the Chinese government that there are no back doors to their software, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder stated today that officers should not be blocked from the information they need to investigate a crime.
The new data encryption technology that Apple has instituted in their new iOS 8 blocks the government from obtaining a user's personal data with or without a warrant. According to a new report, the data encryption is so sophisticated that only the user may unlock it. Even law enforcement officers with search warrants would not have access.
Holder said quick access to phone data can help law enforcement officers find and protect victims, such as those targeted by kidnappers and sexual predators.
At the moment, Justice Department officials have said that Holder is merely asking for cooperation from the companies at this time. For more on this see Reuters report.
Apple recently posted their Privacy Policy online. In one segment Apple's CEO Tim Cook noted that "Government information requests are a consequence of doing business in the digital age. We believe in being as transparent as the law allows about what information is requested from us. In addition, Apple has never worked with any government agency from any country to create a “back door” in any of our products or services. We have also never allowed any government access to our servers. And we never will."
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