If this precedent is set, the lawyers argue, what’s to stop a judge from forcing Apple or Google to help the FBI upload spyware onto a suspect’s phone? The FBI and the White House have said investigators in this case are only interested in getting inside Farook’s phone. The support of both companies follows remarkable public statements by Silicon valley figures including Sundar Pichai, CEO of Apple’s biggest rival Google, who wrote on Wednesday that “requiring companies to enable hacking of customer devices & data ... could be a troubling precedent”.
Presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton also commented on the conflict during a debate in Las Vegas, Nevada, on 18 February. Both said they would like to find a middle ground and avoided taking sides. “I’m on both [sides]. This is a very complicated issue,” said Sanders. “I am very fearful in America about ‘big brother’ and that means not only the federal government getting into your emails or knowing what books you’re taking out of the library ... I worry about that very much. On the other hand, what I also worry about is the possibility of another terrorist attack against our country ... Clearly all of us would be very dismayed if we learned that we could’ve picked up information about a potential terrorist attack and we didn’t do that.” Clinton said: “This is one of the most difficult dilemmas that we’re faced with ... What I keep calling for is to try to get the government and our great tech companies to figure out what is the path forward ... I see both sides, and I think most citizens see both sides ... I’m really making a plea that the government and the tech companies keep working together to see if there isn’t some legitimate way to deal with these very real problems that we deal with.”
Writer - Liam McClelland | @Liamicy