Security News > 2020 > January > Encryption Battle Reignited as US Govt at Loggerheads With Apple
Apple and the US government are at loggerheads for the second time in four years over unlocking iPhones connected to a mass shooting, reviving debate over law enforcement access to encrypted devices.
Attorney General Bill Barr claimed Monday that Apple failed to provide "Substantive assistance" in unlocking two iPhones in the investigation into the December shooting deaths of three US sailors at a Florida naval station, which he called an "Act of terrorism."
The latest battle is similar to the dispute between Apple and the US Justice Department after the December 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, when the iPhone maker rejected a request to develop software to break into the shooter's iPhone.
Kurt Opsahl of the Electronic Frontier Foundation echoed that sentiment, saying Apple "Is right to provide strong security" for its devices.
"The AG requesting Apple re-engineer its phones to break that security is a poor security trade-off, and imperils millions of innocent people around the globe," Opsahl tweeted.