Google CEO Sundar Pichai has backed Apple in its battle with the FBI in opposing a US court’s ruling to unlock the iPhone of a Pakistani-American terrorist who shot dead 14 people in California, saying forcing companies to enable hacking could “compromise” a user’s privacy.
In a series of tweets, Pichai said that although Google gives “law enforcement access to data based on valid legal orders”, it is “wholly different than requiring companies to enable hacking of customer devices and data”, which could set a “troubling precedent”. Apple has opposed a US court’s ruling to unlock the iPhone of San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook, who shot dead 14 people and injured 22 others last December.
In an open letter to its customers, Cook said building a backdoor access to encrypted data on the iPhone of the gunman would be “too dangerous” to create.
Cook’s response came after a federal judge ordered Apple to provide investigators access to Farook’s iPhone after the company “declined to provide” it voluntarily. The White House Press Secretary, Josh Earnest, has said this is one-off request and this does not require Apple to redesign some element of its software, or to create a new backdoor.