Well, Apple has defeated the FBI. Sort of. Unless you've been chilling under a rock, news of the iPhone-maker's fight with the US government has been everywhere. Even though Apple is clearly on the correct side of the encryption-cracking battle, some people have sided with the FBI. I understand that people want to access the terrorist's phone as a way to thwart future attacks, but when we give up our rights and privacy, the terrorists win.
Today, the FBI is throwing in the towel. Using the excuse that it might have found a third party solution to cracking the terrorist's phone, it has requested to cancel tomorrow's court appearance. Well, a judge has officially granted the FBI's request, making Apple victorious -- for now. While the iPhone maker may have won this battle, the war rages on.
Melanie Newman, a Justice Department spokeswoman, told Bloomberg the following.
The FBI has continued in its efforts to gain access to the phone without Apple’s assistance, even during a month-long period of litigation with the company. An outside party demonstrated to the FBI this past weekend a possible method for unlocking the phone. We must first test this method to ensure that it doesn’t destroy the data on the phone, but we remain cautiously optimistic.
Could the FBI be telling a true story? Could it really have found a way to crack the terrorist's iPhone without Apple? Sure, that is possible. With that said, why would it delay the court case before finding out if this third-party option is possible?
Think about it -- if the FBI is saying the phone could hold important information that could save lives. If that is the case, and it thinks it will win the court case, why delay? If this new found solution doesn't work out, delaying the court case could mean delaying the recovery of life-saving data.
Some will say the FBI is preventing a public embarrassment, and precedent-setting loss, but we don't know for sure. Either way, Apple has won this battle and defeated the FBI for now. This encryption argument is far from over, however. The FBI can restart the case whenever it likes.
Photo Credit: Luis Louro /Shutterstock
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