According to court documents, Apple gave the FBI access to a rioter’s iCloud account who was accused of setting police cars on fire in Seattle this summer.
As FBI officers were investigating a Seattle man suspected of setting police cars on fire, they turned to Apple for help […] Apple disclosed the name, email, phone number, and residential address associated with Jackson’s account, then subsequently granted the FBI access to the contents of Jackson’s account in response to a court-ordered search warrant.
Apple was served a lawful subpoena in regards to a lawful investigation, as it does frequently. But the main point is that it contrasts with claims from President Trump and A.G. Barr that Apple hinders investigations because they can’t unlock iPhones. Apple can’t do that, but if a person backs content up to iCloud, then it can be accessed.
Check It Out: Apple Gave FBI Access to Rioter’s iCloud Account
Andrew:
The complaints about Apple from law enforcement have been selective, largely though not exclusively focussed on a back door for encryption, resulting in a public perception of a general lack of cooperation to the public’s safety detriment. The Business Insider piece, by highlighting this case of cooperation, both counters and reenforces that perception; the latter simply by highlighting it plays into a perception of ‘an exception to rule’.
As part of Apple’s and other companies’ campaign against encryption backdoors, Apple could do worse than to devote a page on their own website to their policy on cooperation with law enforcement together with searchable instances.
This information offensive will get scant attention from the general public, but it will put fear-mongering demagogic law makers on notice, and serve as a counterweight to a false narrative – at least for anyone who still pays attention to facts, quaint custom though that might be.
And now you know why I don’t use iCloud. It’s not that I don’t trust Apple. I don’t trust the government. Just ask Breonna Taylor!
Proper warrant. No issue.