They obviously have issues that need to be, you know, appreciated and understood and clarified regarding security. While the Justice Department is now head to head in court with Apple over the locked iPhone of a suspect in the San Bernardino massacre, behind-the-scenes discussions are taking place over WhatsApp’s encryption technology.
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And as the Times points out, there’s little downside for the engineers, whose experience at Apple makes them eminently employable, even at companies that don’t support Apple’s stand against the government.
According to a Reuters report, an Apple attorney anonymously told reporters in a Friday conference call that, at the iPhone encryption hearing scheduled to be held on Tuesday, March 22, Apple and USA prosecutors will present as well as cross-examine witnesses.
Publicly, Apple executives have showed no signs of backing down. Cook said that he found out about the FBI-backed court order demanding Apple help federal investigators access data on the shooter’s iPhone through the press, and he admitted to being “deeply offended” by the government agency “talking about or lying about [Apple’s] intentions”. “It would be like asking my lawn guy to write the code”.
Of course, these Apple employees could simply refuse to comply with the order instead of quitting, but in doing so, say legal sources, those employees and Apple could then be found in contempt of court.
The FBI has said that it is only seeking to break into Farook’s smartmobe, and not all iPhones.
Given the very high profile and tragic circumstances surrounding the San Bernardino case, even some of those siding with Apple’s views fear that the government might win this case, opening up a can of worms for the future.
“They include an engineer who developed software for the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV”. “However, if Apple starts down this path, other governments in the US and around the world will want the same access for their cases”. Apple estimates that the team would require between six and 10 engineers, and that it would take them up to a month to complete the job.
“And within the United States government, we’ve decided long ago that there are limits on what we’re going to do in the war against terrorism”.
“It’s an independent culture and a rebellious one”, said Jean-Louis Gassée, a venture capitalist who was once an engineering manager at Apple. They also insisted that complying would set a precedent that empowers law enforcement to force other companies to undermine their security. REUTERS/Lucy NicholsonIf Apple is required to assist the authorities to decipher the information in one of its iPhone, some engineers might leave the group.
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Cook pushed back against the “going dark” characterization, which many blame on Apple and other tech companies that have made robust encryption standard in recent years.
