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Apple ‘s ( AAPL ) refusal to give in to federal demands to loosen iPhone security for law enforcement agencies has earned praise from tech industry executives and civil liberties groups. But some politicians and criminal investigators have slammed Apple’s actions, as the privacy vs. security debate rages. A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Apple to provide “reasonable technical assistance” to the FBI to unlock an iPhone belonging to one of the killers in the San Bernardino, Calif., shootings. The order calls for Apple to create software that can get around or disable the security option that erases data from an iPhone after 10 unsuccessful attempts to unlock it. Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, shot and killed 14 people on Dec. 2. The radicalized Muslim couple, described in press reports as supporters of terror group ISIS, later died in a gun battle with police. But late Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said complying with the court’s order would create a “ dangerous precedent .” The government’s demands threaten the privacy and security of all of its customers, he said. It would create a backdoor for hackers, criminals and government spies to exploit. Among the earliest to support Apple’s pushback to the court order were digital rights groups Electronic Frontier Foundation and Fight for the Future, as well as Edward Snowden, the ex-NSA contractor who revealed the government’s widespread surveillance programs. Also jumping in to support Cook’s message were Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet ( GOOGL ) unit Google, and Jan Koum, Facebook ( FB ) board member and WhatsApp founder. Reform Government Surveillance, a coalition of major online companies, also supported Cook’s actions. Members of the group include AOL, Apple, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn ( LNKD ), Microsoft ( MSFT ), Twitter ( TWTR ) and Yahoo ( YHOO ). Officially, though, few companies have issued a public opinion, nor have many tech CEOs. “RGS companies remain committed to providing law enforcement with the help it needs while protecting the security of their customers and their customers’ information,” the group said in a statement . Other groups backing Apple in its stand include the Information Technology Industry Council, American Civil Liberties Union and the Consumer Technology Association. Government Order Seen Opening ‘Pandora’s Box’ “Government should not mandate that technology companies weaken security that has been developed to protect consumers, even when investigating crimes,” Gary Shapiro, chief executive of the Consumer Technology Association, said in a statement. “Granting government such power could open a Pandora’s Box, setting a troubling precedent and weakening security standards that could be exploited by the very people the government seeks to protect our citizens from — terrorists, hackers and foreign governments.” Mark Cuban, billionaire investor and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, defended Apple’s decision in a post on his blog Thursday . He said Apple did the “exact right thing by not complying with the order.” “Every tool that protects our privacy and liberties against oppression, tyranny, madmen and worse can often be used to take those very precious rights from us,” Cuban said. “We must stand up for our rights to free speech and liberty.” Meanwhile, politicians who favor giving the federal government greater powers to combat terrorism spoke out against Apple’s decision to fight the court order. The White House backed the FBI’s demand and court order. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump sided firmly with law enforcement on the issue. “To think that Apple won’t allow us to get into her cellphone? Who do they think they are? No, we have to open it,” Trump said during an interview on Fox. New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton also backed the feds. “We are increasingly blind for terrorism purposes and for general law enforcement purposes with the new devices and the continuing effort to make them even more secure against even court orders authorizing law enforcement to have access,” Bratton said. The family of a British soldier murdered by Islamic extremists also criticized Apple’s refusal to abide by the court order. Apple is “protecting a murderer’s privacy at the cost of public safety,” Ray McClure, the uncle of Fusilier Lee Rigby, told the BBC. Rigby was off duty when he was killed near his barracks in Woolwich, England, in May 2013. Two men who committed the attack said they were avenging the killing of Muslims by British soldiers. Scalper1 News
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