Apple’s dispute with the United States government over a court order demanding that it create an insecure version of iOS to help the FBI break the passcode of the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone 5c has gained support from more than 40 parties, according to The New York Times.
Samsung, however, likely won’t be one of them.
As reported by Bloomberg, Samsung generally supports the notion that “any requirement to create a backdoor could undermine consumers’ trust,” but stopped short of voicing open support for its rival.
“Ensuring trust in our products and services is our top priority. Our phones are embedded with encryption that protects privacy and content, and they do not have backdoors,” the South Korean firm said.
“When required to do so, and within the law, we work with law enforcement agencies. However, any requirement to create a backdoor could undermine consumers’ trust.”
“Protecting our customers’ privacy is extremely important, but we have not decided whether to file an amicus brief in the current case,” said Samsung. I think Samsung should put aside for a moment rivalry with Apple and just do the right thing.
A list of the supporting amicus briefs was published this morning on Apple’s website.
All told, about 40 companies and organizations are expected to file court briefs today to support Apple’s standoff with the United States government, including companies like Dropbox, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Snapchat and Yahoo.
Apple’s list of submitted amicus briefs includes organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Northern California, ACLU of Southern California, ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, United Nations Special Rapporteur David Kaye and Salicin Kondoker, whose wife Anies Kondoker was shot three times in the December 2 attacks.
Source: Bloomberg