FBI iPhone SurveillanceBy Jake Anderson On its face, the case boils down to a single locked and encrypted iPhone 5S, used by radical jihadist Syed Rizwan Farook before he and his wide Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people in San Bernardino on December 2nd. The DOJ wants Apple to build a backdoor into the device so that it can bypass the companys state-of-the-art encryption apparatus and access information and evidence related to the case. At least, thats the premise presented to the public. As we are learning, the FBI and the federal government have a far more comprehensive end-game in mind than merely bolstering the prosecution of this one case. Whistleblower Edward Snowden tweeted last week that crucial details [of the case] are being obscured by officials.Specifically, he made the following trenchant points: Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 19, 2016 Now, the Wall Street Journal has confirmed that there are actually 12 other iPhones the FBI wants to access in cases that have nothing to do with terrorism. According to an Apple lawyer, these cases are spread all across the country: Four in Illinois, three in New York, two in California, two in Ohio, and one in Massachusetts. With each of these cases, the FBIs lawyers cite an 18th-century law called All Writs Act, which they say is the jurisprudence needed to force Apple to comply and bypass their built-in proprietary encryption methods. Is it any wonder the only case the public hears about is the one that involves terrorism? While law enforcement authorities claim these 12 additional cases are evidence that encryption has become a major hindrance to investigations across the country, privacy advocates say it is, conversely, evidence that national security is not the only factor at play in the governments desire to circumvent encryption. This is further evidenced by the fact that the government has been pressuring Apple to create iPhone backdoors since long before the San Bernardino attack. Rather, information privacy advocates like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) say the push for bypassing encryption specifically, compelling Apple to build a backdoor operating system involves a large-scale campaign to use the threat of terror to overreach their legal authority, breaching civil liberties in the process. We saw this in the wake of 9/11, when NSAs PRISM program conscripted Google, Microsoft, and Facebook in a covert data mining campaign to collect metadata from American citizens. The EFF says the Apple case is part of an ongoing pattern of the state using the threat of terrorism as a Trojan horse to get backdoor access to citizens smartphones: The power to force a company to undermine security protections for its customers may seem compelling in a particular case, but this weeks order has very significant implications both for technology and the law. Not only would it require a company to create a new vulnerability potentially affecting millions of device users, the order would also create a dangerous legal precedent. The next time an intelligence agency tries to undermine consumer device security by forcing a company to develop new flaws in its own security protocols, the government will find a supportive case to cite where before there were none. The DOJ deployed talking heads to all the media outlets to make the specious argument that what theyre asking for doesnt really constitute a backdoor. The fact of the matter is, they are asking for a court to mandate that Apple work for the government (which, some have argued, creates a 13th amendment violation as well as privacy concerns) in weakening their own security and creating access to a locked, encrypted device. This is a backdoor, and virtually all tech experts agree that they are dangerous. Nate Cardozo explained on the PBS NewsHour: Authoritarian regimes around the world are salivating at the prospect of the FBI winning this order. If Apple creates the master key that the FBI has demanded that they create, governments around the world are going to be demanding the same access. Computer programming expert and Libertarian Party presidential candidate John McAfee tried to call the FBIs bluff last week by offering to take apart the San Bernardino iPhone and help the government extract the data they want without building a backdoor. He made the rounds on major media outlets as well, warning of the dangers of complying with the Justice Department. McAfee says the FBI is asking every owner of an iPhone to make their phone susceptible to bad hackers and more importantly foreign enemies of the United States like China. Meanwhile, this week, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg offered intellectual solidarity with Apples CEO Tim Cook, while Bill Gates took a more moderate stance on the issue, suggesting privacy advocates were overreacting. Gates later backslid from this position and lent his support to Apple. Its also worth pointing out that the FBIs own mistakes during the investigation of the San Bernardino shooting may the reason they now need Apples help. According to Truthdig, The FBI reportedly asked San Bernardino County officials to tamper with the iCloud account of one of the suspected shooters in last Decembers attack, in an effort that ultimately failed making it impossible to know if there were other ways of recovering encrypted information without taking Apple to court. Apples brand is on the line, too. Previously hailed as a data security juggernaut among smartphone manufacturers, a judicial order to build a backdoor would compromise their status in a market in which uncompromised encryption is becoming rarer by the day. The stakes couldnt be higher. As noted by The Pontiac Tribune, if the FBI prevails in this case, the ramifications wont be limited to smartphones. It will set a precedent for the government legally conscripting any and every entity they desire for the purposes of citizen surveillance and metadata collection. This article (We Just Found out the Real Reason the FBI Wants a Backdoor into the iPhone) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under aCreative Commons license with attribution to Jake Anderson and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org. I think its all BS. If the FBI wants in, Im sure they can get in, thats assuming there isnt really a back door already there (on Microsoft products since 1999 I believe, so why would Apple be any different?). This is the same Apple with suicide nets on their foreign facilities and whose logo represents Satan. And I highly doubt there even is a phone, since it probably was someone else who did the shooting, if there even was a shooting. Its the Feds trying again to trick people into giving up privacy and Apple PRETENDING to be a noble company (remember, suicide nets). Tough to say whats the real truth and motive here. One thing is for certain, the FBI and the NSA never publicly air their demands with corporations publicly, unless they want the public swayed. Its also a certainty that the general public has been shown to relinquish rights and freedoms if safety is brought up. My personal opinion is that our government does have a problem spying on iPhones and this public event serves to put Apple on notice that it can be neutered by the resultant bad press if it doesnt agree to government demands. Hey I hope Im wrong. I hope Tim Cook is manning up and saying enough though I wont be holding my breath. Only time will tell. You have to be extremely naive and stupid to think this has not already been happening.What a way for Apple to increase sales by pretending to be on the other side of the tyrannical coin I don`t particularly care if the government has concrete evidence (not just `probable cause`) that there are detailed plans for a nuclear device hidden in Manhattan squirreled away on that telephone, the government has NO right to suborn the rights of millions of citizens and several corporations. Life is a crap shoot; when it`s your time, you go. If you`re so frightened of shadows that you give everything away, that`s your problem. The FBI and the judge in this case can screw themselves up a tree before I would even consider condoning their overreach. Well said. i see no reason Apple should help them this is over reach at its best. What ? Is this NEW NEWS? No, it is not. Gee dah. Same crap same approach. Anything the de facto government does is criminal. Forgive me for not reading the article for its no different then the triangulation the cell fone pings living in the mid midwest they really put on the show w/out concern for the family who lost theyre daughter, I need not say more! They have the populace so dumbd down that its pathetic! Fear the One who has many of us His reverence Dont fear this evil, get in its face by using the 2 edged Sword of His Word! Youre just now realizing that the FBI is attempting to force a legal precedent to occur so they can spy on everyone? Theyve attempted the same thing with other cases. Do you guys need any research help or anything? 