Battle Over San Bernardino Shooter's iPhone Escalates
- Both sides push arguments as legal process gets under way
- March 22 hearing set on whether Apple must help unlock iPhone
An Apple Inc. iPhone 6s smartphone sits on a packaging box in an arranged photograph.
Photographer: Xaume Olleros/BloombergThe U.S. government and Apple Inc. escalated their battle over accessing data on the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers, raising the stakes in the high-profile standoff about the balance between law enforcement and privacy in the digital age.
The Department of Justice on Friday asked a California judge to compel Apple to provide tools that will make it easier for investigators to unlock the phone used by Syed Rizwan Farook, saying the company’s refusal amounted to putting profits over security. Apple executives quickly responded, saying that the U.S. government is overreaching and threatening to set a precedent that undermines civil liberties.