On Feb. 16, a court ruled that Apple must help the FBI break into an iPhone by disabling a security feature option designed to protect iPhone users' data. The feature can be set to delete all data from a phone if the code to unlock the device is incorrectly entered too many times.
The FBI believes an iPhone owned by one or both of the San Bernardino, Calif., shooters, may hold critical data on the shooters. After unsuccessful attempts to unlock the phone, the agency voiced concerns that valuable information will be erased if they cannot access the device.
Apple has said it will oppose the ruling. Why?
According to USA Today,
The issue came into the spotlight after Edward Snowden disclosed the extent to which technology and phone companies were letting the U.S. federal government spy on data being transmitted through their network.
Since Edward Snowden's whistleblowing revelations, Facebook, Apple and Twitter have unilaterally said they are not going to create such backdoors anymore.
...In a message to customers published on Apple's website, he said: "We can find no precedent for an American company being forced to expose its customers to a greater risk of attack."
And concerns aren't limited to Apple. Digital rights activists have also raised grave concerns. USA Today reports,
There are two things that make this order very dangerous, Opsahl said. The first is the question it raises about who can make this type of demand. If the U.S. government can force Apple to do this, why can't the Chinese or Russian governments?
The second is that while the government is requesting a program to allow it to break into this one, specific iPhone, once the program is created it will essentially be a master key. It would be possible for the government to take this key, modify it and use it on other phones. That risks a lot, that the government will have this power and it will not be misused, he said.
Read more here.
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