Washington sources reported that President donald trump just slammed apple for refusing to allow the US government access to the iPhones "used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements." Meanwhile in a tweet on tuesday, trump said the tech giant "will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country." Trump's tweet came hours after apple declined requests from US Attorney General William Barr and the FBI to unlock two iPhones believed to have been used by a 21 year old man who killed three sailors in a shooting last month at a Pensacola, florida, air Force base.
Perhaps Barr also expressed frustration that Apple's built-in encryption prevented the FBI from getting into the phones. Reportedly he said "We call on apple and other technology companies to help us find a solution so that we can better protect the lives of Americans and prevent future attacks". Apple's commitment to protecting the privacy of its users is well known. The iphone maker has hammered on privacy as a marketing pitch in recent years, with CEO Tim Cook repeatedly calling privacy a fundamental human right. Cook told CNN in 2018 that he wants governments around the world to restrict how much data companies can collect from their customers.
Accordingly apple has pushed back against suggestions it isn't cooperating with authorities on the Pensacola case, saying in a statement monday that it "responded to each request promptly with all the information that we had."
