Apple has made some new revelations in the most debated fight over privacy until now. The popular company’s court filing indicates that Apple actually was contacted by the FBI for the first time about three days after the shootings that occurred at San Bernardino.
The revelations were made in a declaration of Lisa Olle, the manager of Apple’s Global Privacy & Law Enforcement Compliance Team, which was listed in court documents. The statement said that officials contacted Apple through its 24-hour emergency call center, on December 5, meaning three days after the tragic attacks that led to the death of no less than 14 people.
Officials found one of the attacker’s iPhones after the attack and contacted Apple in a matter of a few days. Reportedly, after that, Apple has been in talks with officials from the government to find the best way to extract data from the device.
It has also been said that the information that Apple stored about the suspects was provided to officials soon after the request was initially made.
This could include data such as iCloud subscriber data and other subscriber information. So, the company was required to provide data about three names and nine different accounts. Furthermore, Apple soon received a search warrant for emails, as well as messages that were associated to the accounts in question.
A third request came from authorities with regard to information about another name and seven different accounts. Apple reportedly responded to all these requests.
Olle’s statement indicated that Apple also received a warrant from the government to give information on the iCloud account of one of the attackers, which the company complied with and provided all the data it had in its possession.
“Throughout the investigation, I and other Apple representatives, including a senior engineer, continually made ourselves available to the government, on a 24/7 basis, participating in teleconferences, providing technical assistance, answering questions from the FBI, and suggesting potential alternatives for the government to attempt to obtain data from the Subject Device,” Olle’s statement said.
However, problems have risen the moment when authorities have failed in all their attempts to break into the iPhone that one of the attacks owned. For the data on the device to become accessible, Apple would actually have to write a new version of the operating system that would have to be installed on the device. This is said to be a workaround software that would be able to beat the iOS’ encryption.
Apple also claimed that the government was seeking “dangerous power” and invoked Apple’s constitutional rights. Moreover, Apple fears that in the wrong hands, such a technology would lead to severe privacy risks for customers. The case remains on-going and a hearing is set to take place on March 22.
Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, also defended his position during a private meeting of tech giants and the national security officials of the White House. Insiders claimed that Cook was very strong in his position and refused to let himself be influenced by the government’s official position.
