On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled that Apple must provide federal investigators with "reasonable technical assistance" in accessing encrypted data on an iPhone that belonged to Syed Farook, one of the San Bernardino shooters, court documents say.
Prosecutors said they have been unable to access "relevant, critical" data on the phone because the iPhone is locked and they can't break in. On Dec. 2, Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people at the Inland Regional Center, and prosecutors say the iPhone 5c, issued to Farook by his employer, the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, could show who the shooters were communicating with before the attack, and if they had any help planning and carrying out the massacre. The judge said Apple must provide assistance like bypassing the auto-erase function and letting investigators send an unlimited amount of passwords to use in trying to unlock the phone.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Laura Lippman's 6 favorite books for those who crave a high-stakes adventureFeature The Grand Master recommends works by E.L. Konigsburg, Charles Portis, and more
-
Book reviews: 'Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream' and 'Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television'Feature Private equity and the man who created 'I Love Lucy' get their close-ups
-
Can Texas redistricting save the US House for the GOP?Today's Big Question Trump pushes a 'ruthless' new plan, but it could backfire
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bailSpeed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambushSpeed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrialSpeed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside homespeed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confessionspeed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulderspeed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC paradespeed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
