Apple and Android fans tend to butt heads and not agree on much when it comes to their preferred operating systems, all except for the area of privacy, I think both camps might be united on this front. It’s no secret that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has not been happy with Apple’s recent update to iOS which encrypts users phones from prying eyes. That encryption keeps government agencies out of those phones as well and Apple is not supplying any form of iPhone decryption to the government. This is forcing the DOJ to find new ways to try and force Apple to decrypt and open a backdoor for government snoops.
The DOJ is now arguing before a federal court that because Apple does not sell the software on its iPhones, they merely license it, the software cannot be protected against federal searches and the DOJ should be allowed access to all iPhones and software supplied by Apple.
“Apple wrote and owns the software that runs the phone, and this software is thwarting the execution of the warrant,” the justice department added. “Apple’s software licensing agreement specifies that iOS 7 software is ‘licensed, not sold’ and that users are merely granted ‘a limited non-exclusive license to use the iOS Software.'”
“Apple cannot reap the legal benefits of licensing its software in this manner and then later disclaim any ownership or obligation to assist law enforcement when that same software plays a critical role in thwarting execution of a search warrant,”
That is a huge loophole if the court sides with the DOJ on this matter and one that everyone should be worried about as most all software is licensed not sold. A ruling in the DOJ’s favor means the federal government would have access to any piece of software that is licensed and the companies who license that software would need to assist in retrieving the desired information, or at least provide the means of retrieval. Apple has yet to make a comment on this latest DOJ move and it will be interesting if Apple’s lawyers can find a way to close that hole.
What do you think of the DOJ’s attempt to break down Apple’s privacy wall? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Facebook and Twitter.
[button link=”http://www.techtimes.com/articles/99132/20151024/justice-department-wants-court-to-force-apple-to-decrypt-iphones-because-apple-licenses-not-sells-ios.htm” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: TechTimes[/button]Last Updated on November 27, 2018.
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