US government pushes ahead with battle to unlock iPhones

In the next battleground in the Department of Justice's fight to unlock some of Apple's well-encrypted iPhones, the agency on Friday pressed ahead with its efforts to get access to a locked phone linked to a methamphetamine ring in Brooklyn.

Although the FBI unlocked a phone last month, ending its prominent legal battle with Apple in the case involving the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, the Department of Justice on Friday told a federal judge in the Eastern District of New York that it still needs the technology giant's help to unlock the phone in the Brooklyn case.

It is seeking to overturn an earlier order from another judge in Brooklyn who sided with Apple and said the Department of Justice had overreached in trying to force the company to give it access to an encrypted iPhone used by a convicted drug dealer.

Warrant

In its letter on Friday, the Department of Justice said that “the government’s application is not moot and the government continues to require Apple’s assistance in accessing the data that it is authorised to search by warrant.”

The FBI’s fight with Apple over the iPhone used by one of the attackers in San Bernardino in December ended abruptly after the bureau paid an outside firm - which company and how much is still unknown - to demonstrate a way around two defence mechanisms in the phone.

With tensions high, the FBI said this week that it had not yet shared that solution with Apple and had not decided whether to do so. Investigators have not said what data was retrieved or even whether it considers it useful.

New York Times Service