Is Apple Intentionally Crippling Law Enforcement Access to Digital Evidence?

Apple recently announced new iPhones and a new operating system for its mobile devices. Amidst the hubbub, Apple also revealed that the new operating system would render it impossible for Apple to give law enforcement officers access to locked iPhones, even with a search warrant. Many in law enforcement aren’t happy about this, with FBI Director James Comey stating that he can’t understand why companies would “market something expressly to allow people to place themselves beyond the law.” But is that what’s going on? Background. Under previous versions of its mobile operating system, Apple had the ability to recover certain items from locked phones. According to its law enforcement guidelines: For iOS devices running iOS versions earlier than iOS 8.0, upon receipt of a valid search warrant . . . Apple can extract certain categories of active data from passcode locked iOS devices [including] . . . SMS, iMessage, MMS, photos, videos, contacts, audio recording, and call history. Apple cannot provide: email, calendar entries, or any third-party app data. Change with the new operating system. Apple has just rolled out iOS 8, the latest version of its mobile operating system. Apple says that “[f]or all devices running iOS 8.0 and later versions, Apple will no longer be performing iOS data extractions as the data sought will be encrypted and Apple will not possess the encryption key.” The technical explanation is detailed, but basically, in the new operating system, Apple is encrypting more data and is using stronger encryption – so strong that [...]