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The fight over smartphone encryption between Apple ( AAPL ) and the Department of Justice is being waged as much in the court of public opinion as it is in a federal court in Riverside, Calif. Late Thursday, Apple delivered an angry response to a DOJ court filing that accused the Cupertino, Calif., company of trying to sway opinion with false rhetoric and “corrosive” comments about the federal government. In its latest filing, the Justice Department accused Apple of deliberately raising technological barriers to prevent law enforcement officials from accessing data on its smartphones. It said Apple’s arguments about increasing data security on its iPhones to protect its customers’ privacy was a “diversion.” On Feb. 16, a federal judge in Southern California ordered Apple to provide “reasonable technical assistance” to the FBI to help unlock a password-protected iPhone belonging to Syed Farook, one of the killers in the San Bernardino, Calif., terrorist attack on Dec. 2. The Justice Department says the case is about only the one iPhone, but Apple believes it will set a precedent that will create a backdoor for government spies, criminals and hackers. “Apple’s rhetoric is not only false, but also corrosive of the very institutions that are best able to safeguard our liberty and our rights: the courts, the Fourth Amendment, longstanding precedent and venerable laws, and the democratically elected branches of government,” the DOJ said in its filing Thursday. Apple General Counsel Bruce Sewell took offense at the claims of federal prosecutors. “In 30 years of practice I don’t think I’ve seen a legal brief that was more intended to smear the other side with false accusations and innuendo, and less intended to focus on the real merits of the case,” Sewell said in a statement Thursday . Sewell called the DOJ filing a “cheap shot.” “We add security features to protect our customers from hackers and criminals,” Sewell said. “And the FBI should be supporting us in this because it keeps everyone safe. To suggest otherwise is demeaning. It cheapens the debate and it tries to mask the real and serious issues. I can only conclude that the DOJ is so desperate at this point that it has thrown all decorum to the winds.” Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch went on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” to defend the FBI’s stance in the case. She reiterated the government’s claims that the case is “very narrow and very focused” on one smartphone and that the feds aren’t trying to create a backdoor to Apple’s iPhone security. Apple claims that if the government succeeds in this case it will set a dangerous precedent that will allow it and other governments to keep coming back to Apple to hack its iPhones. Worse, if the technology becomes available to circumvent iPhone security, it’s only a matter of time before it leaks out to hackers and criminal enterprises who will go after iPhone users’ personal and financial data. RELATED: Tech Rivals Unite To Support Apple In iPhone Privacy Case Vs. FBI . Scalper1 News
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