In what could be a landmark court ruling following the recent outcry over Apple’s FBI Encryption fight, a New York magistrate court has ruled that the American government cannot force the tech giants to unlock their devices in order to assist with law enforcement.
Stemming from the original request from the FBI to unlock the phones of terror suspects following on from the deadly San Bernardino mass shootings, the ruling sides with Apple and their stance that such a demand would be unethical and outside of the remit of government.
Apple head honcho Tim Cook has garnered a great deal of fractious comment for his company’s stance, with many lauding his principles as a much-needed stand for civil liberties. Meanwhile, critics like Donald Trump have said he’s abetting terror and even called for a boycott of Apple products. Although, seeing as Trump has himself continued using iPhones himself since, we’re going to go right ahead and presume he hasn’t really understood what a boycott actually entails.
In any event, this ruling is by no means a full stop, and should the matter escalate it will be decided by future legislation passed by congress. Until then iPhone users can feel a little more secure in their devices – Donald Trump included.
