Apple and the FBI are in the middle of a huge battle that could affect the privacy of millions of people — here's everything that's happened so far

Tim Cook
AP

The battle between the FBI and Apple over a phone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters is poised to be one of the biggest technology stories for years.

Advertisement

In short, the FBI wants Apple to help it hack a phone it can't access because it has its passcode lock turned on.

The FBI says that Apple is obstructing a critical investigation with national security implications by refusing to build custom software to bypass the phone's passcode. 

Apple says it's unfair that the government can tell companies they have to do something that they don't necessarily want to, and that what the FBI wants endangers all of its customers.

In short, there are big differences in outlook between the two groups, and both have the budget and desire to fight this to the end.

Advertisement

Here's what you need to know about how it all started, and where Apple's battle with the FBI stands today.

Advertisement

September 2014: Apple seriously upgrades the iPhone's encryption systems as part of a software update. Before, parts of iPhone data were encrypted, such as emails and calendar data. But the iOS 8 software update put much more of the interesting data under lock and key, including text messages, photos, and contacts.

WWDC 2014
Getty

Before Apple released iOS 8, it told law enforcement: 

Please note the only categories of user generated active files that can be provided to law enforcement, pursuant to a valid search warrant, are: SMS, photos, videos, contacts, audio recording, and call history. Apple cannot provide: email, calendar entries, or any third-party App data.

After the update, all of that data became locked by a user's passcode. 

Advertisement

September 2014: Almost immediately, law enforcement officials react. FBI Director James Comey and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance criticize Apple within weeks of the iOS 8 update. Those two officials remain among the most outspoken Apple critics on the topic of encryption.

James Comey FBI Director
FBI Director James Comey REUTERS/Brian Snyder

“There will come a day when it will matter a great deal to the lives of people . . . that we will be able to gain access” to such devices, Comey said just days after Apple turned on its improved iOS security. 

Even then-Attorney General Eric Holder weighed in. “It is fully possible to permit law enforcement to do its job while still adequately protecting personal privacy. When a child is in danger, law enforcement needs to be able to take every legally available step to quickly find and protect the child and to stop those that abuse children. It is worrisome to see companies thwarting our ability to do so,” he said at a conference on child sexual abuse less than a month after Apple turned on full-disk encryption by default. 

Advertisement

October 2014: Google appears as if it will back up Apple and turn on full-disk encryption by default on Android phones, but then it quietly backs away.

Google Nexus 6
Google

Part of the reason why Google can't turn on full-disk encryption is twofold: first, it's up to the actual phone manufacturer whether to turn it on by default, and second, Android updates trickle out to users much more slowly than Apple updates. 

December 2, 2015: Two terrorists burst into a government building in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 and injuring 22 in what has become one of the most high-profile terrorism cases in the past decade.

San Bernardino shooting
People who were near a shooting rampage at a social services center that killed multiple people and wounded others arrive at at a community center to reunite with their family members in San Bernardino, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
Advertisement

December 3, 2014: The FBI starts investigating the San Bernardino case. The shooters, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, crushed their personal phones. But Farook had a government-issued iPhone 5C so that he could perform his job as a health inspector.

San Bernardino shooting suspects
This undated combination of photos provided by the FBI, left, and the California Department of Motor Vehicles shows Tashfeen Malik, left, and Syed Farook. AP

December 2014: Farook's iPhone 5C running the most recent version of iOS made full iCloud backups, which were obtained by the investigation, but there was a gap of a few months between the last backup and when the phone was obtained.

iphone 5c passcode unlock
Apple
Advertisement

February 16, 2016: Sheri Pym, a federal judge in California, publicly orders Apple to assist the FBI to help it crack Syed Farook's iPhone. Specifically, it says it wants Apple to create custom software that would mean the phone would not wipe itself after 10 failed passcode attempts.

iPhone 5C
An iPhone 5C Flickr/Gadgetmac

In fact, photos found on Farook's work iPhone may have been the reason that several high schools were evacuated after the shooting.

Advertisement

February 17, 2016: In the days after Cook posted his open letter, a few Silicon Valley executives start publicly backing Apple. Notably, Google CEO Sundar Pichai backed Apple in a series of tweets.

sundar pichai
Adnan Abidi/Reuters

 

Advertisement

February 19, 2016: A senior Apple executive speaking on the condition of anonymity tells reporters that the custom software the FBI is requesting would work on other iPhones, and highlights the fact that law enforcement may have screwed up the investigation by resetting the phone's iCloud password. The executive signals that Apple will continue to build even more privacy-protecting user security into its devices.

apple secret
AppAdvice
Advertisement

February 20, 2016: The FBI is forced to release a statement confirming that it had ordered the investigation to reset the iCloud password on the shooter's iPhone.

Fbi headquarters
Fbi headquarters I, Aude via Wikimedia Commons

"Since the iPhone 5C was locked when investigators seized it during the lawful search on December 3rd, a logical next step was to obtain access to iCloud backups for the phone in order to obtain evidence related to the investigation in the days following the attack," the FBI's statement read. "The FBI worked with San Bernardino County to reset the iCloud password on December 6th, as the county owned the account and was able to reset the password in order to provide immediate access to the iCloud backup data."

Full story here

Advertisement

February 21, 2016: FBI Director Comey lays out his rationale for Apple to unlock Farook's iPhone in a opinion posted on the Lawfare blog.

FBI James Comey
FBI Director James Comey. Associated Press

His full post, "We Could Not Look the Survivors in the Eye if We Did Not Follow this Lead," is here

"The San Bernardino litigation isn't about trying to set a precedent or send any kind of message. It is about the victims and justice. Fourteen people were slaughtered and many more had their lives and bodies ruined. We owe them a thorough and professional investigation under law. That's what this is. The American people should expect nothing less from the FBI," Comey wrote. 

February 22, 2016: Apple posts an FAQ on its website that suggests that the company is planning to make its encryption even stronger going forward.

Stronger Apple FAQ
Apple

The full FAQ is available here

Advertisement

February 22, 2016: The American public is polled about the issue by Pew Research Center, revealing that 51% of respondents side with the FBI and think that Apple should comply with the court order.

lake placid winter olympics crowd people american flag
Wikimedia Commons

More information from the poll here

Advertisement

February 24, 2016: CEO Tim Cook breaks his silence and gives an extended interview with ABC where he calls the custom technical assistance the FBI wants "the software equivalent of cancer."

 

Advertisement
Advertisement

March 1, 2016: Finally, the showdown heads to Capitol Hill. Congressmen from both sides of the aisle grill FBI Director James Comey over the FBI's court order, and later press Apple's lawyer Bruce Sewell over what he would like an encryption law to look like.

Bruce Sewell Congress
AP

In general, the representatives on the Judiciary Committee, which held the hearing, were skeptical of Comey's arguments, and a good deal more receptive to Sewell's statement. 

It looks like aside from its legal battle, Apple will soon have to convince Congress to pass what it believes an encryption backdoor law should be.

Apple and the FBI will face off in court again on March 22. 

Apple
Advertisement
Close icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.