Apple says the US Administration should withdraw its court order requiring the company to help the FBI unlock a terrorist’s iPhone, and has asked that US lawmakers should instead form an expert commission to investigate the implications for privacy, freedom and national security.
The company would “gladly participate” in such an effort, which has been suggested by some members of Congress, Apple said.
US magistrate judge Sheri Pym last week ordered Apple to give “reasonable technical assistance” to the FBI to access information from the phone used by Syed Rizwan Farook, who with his wife killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California, in December.
Apple has so far rejected the court order, saying it would open a “Pandora’s box” of privacy issues.
“We feel the best way forward would be for the Government to withdraw its demands under the All Writs Act and, as some in Congress have proposed, form a commission or other panel of experts on intelligence, technology and civil liberties to discuss the implications for law enforcement, national security, privacy, and personal freedoms,” the company said.
