Maricopa County Attorney bans employees from getting new iPhones, says Apple is 'on the side of ter

Posted:
in iPhone edited February 2016
As a result of Apple's refusal to help the FBI unlock San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook's iPhone, the Maricopa County, Ariz. Attorney's Office has announced that it will not allow workers to choose Apple's handsets as upgrades or replacements.




"Apple's refusal to cooperate with a legitimate law enforcement investigation to unlock a phone used by terrorists puts Apple on the side of terrorists instead of on the side of public safety," said County Attorney Bill Montgomery in a prepared statement. "Positioning their refusal to cooperate as having anything to do with privacy interests is a corporate PR stunt and ignores the 4th Amendment protections afforded by our Constitution."

Montgomery added that prosecutors have regularly secured warrants to unlock encrypted smartphones, "including iPhones sold prior to the release of the iPhone 7." It's not immediately clear why the office chose to refer to an as yet-unannounced handset.

Evidence obtained this way has allegedly proven "critical" in cases involving murder, drug trafficking, and other crimes. He suggested that Apple is concerned about "the potential for unauthorized access to an encryption key," and that if so, the problem should be dealt with in that context.

In a TV interview aired Wednesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook argued that in the future, the company could theoretically be compelled to create tools for surveillance if orders under the All Writs Act stand.

The Maricopa County iPhone ban may have relatively little impact, since the Attorney's Office says that it has 564 smartphones in all, of which 366 are iPhones. Montgomery concluded by saying that he can't do business with a company that interferes with an investigation into a terrorist attack.

"If Apple wants to be the official smartphone of terrorists and criminals, there will be a consequence," he said.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 97
    Here we go. 

    Like a jilted lover out for revenge. 
    jackansimwhitehike1272JamesBBcalijbdragonjSnivelylymfAMCAni
  • Reply 2 of 97
    Yippee, our first dumb-ass knee-jerk (politician) reaction.
    emig647ewtheckmanjkichlinejackansistskmwhiteJamesBBcalijbdragonrrrize
  • Reply 3 of 97
    Wait, is he calling government employees "terrorists"? Government organizations have the authority to make the same considerations we make. Is it important to me that this phone protect my/our information from unauthorized access? (Why are my paragraph breaks disappearing?)
    edited February 2016 calijbdragonAniAMConeof52kevin kee
  • Reply 4 of 97
    ceek74ceek74 Posts: 324member
    I'm glad they included "iPhones sold prior to the release of the iPhone 7".  Whew!
  • Reply 5 of 97
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    I just love these frakking morons. If this was a PR stunt, Apple should fire it's PR team. Good luck getting Google to crack it's Android for you. Apple shouldn't be in the hacking-its-customers business. 
    mwhiteJamesBBjbdragonAMConeof52cincymaclatifbpkevin kee
  • Reply 6 of 97
    if this gentleman's logic holds, we should stop using guns fighting the terrorists... because guns are in fact the official weapon of terrorists and criminals. Sticks and Knives for our field FBI agents and law enforcement... make sense? ugh.. dumb politicians! 
    jackansimwhitejbishop1039RhodJamesBBcalijbdragonrrrizestompyretrogusto
  • Reply 7 of 97
    "Après nous, le déluge!" Mr. Montgomery added.

    It is not wholly unexpected, of course. One hopes that Apple took such inevitable blowback heavily into consideration when deciding its course of action. That said, there is a reason why many in Southern Arizona call the county seat "Maricopastan," as it is, indeed, a bastion of reactionary politicians, many of them eternal priests of the Mormon church. Undoubtedly, those 366 iPhones will be immediately replaced using money from the dwindling pot of education dollars the state of Arizona loves to pilfer. 
    stskmwhitecalichiabadmonk
  • Reply 8 of 97
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,241member
    Now hackers and every foreign government will have easy access to their new android based phones. Very smart decision. Very short sighted decision as well. People talk about Apple users drinking the coolaid these government employees must have anti-Apple coolaid being fed intravenously. 
    jackansimwhiteJamesBBmonstrosityjbdragoncaliAMCAnilostkiwimagman1979
  • Reply 9 of 97
    So they will buy Samsung or LG phones instead? A very RED and patriotic US police department would rather buy from a foreign company than a US company (yes, they build their phones in China too)? Apple is not AGAINST law enforcement.  They are FOR individual privacy and the constitution.  That's why we have a Bill of Rights.  That's why the police have to issue Miranda warnings, to tell people that they actually have rights when they are arrested, unlike some other country's. We, the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, actually limit the power of government from interfering with individuals' freedoms.  Yes, if it were up to the police, they would put cameras in everyone's home, just in case someone in the neighborhood might be doing something illegal behind closed doors.  However, we have laws that prevent this.  

    Apple is doing the right thing in saying NO, and then hopefully having this hashed out in the courts and laws changed.  The changed law may not favor Apple, but at least it will be clear.
    jbishop1039mwhitemartinb412dtidmoreJamesBBjbdragoncalianantksundaramewtheckmanAni
  • Reply 10 of 97
    Guess we'll soon be reading about Maricopa County data being exposed in yet another nefarious hacking. When will they learn?
    jbdragoncalianantksundaramewtheckmanAMClostkiwimagman1979tdknox
  • Reply 11 of 97
    What an idiot! Doesn't he realize that Google/Android also sided with Apple? Is he also banning all Android phones?
    JamesBBewtheckmanAMCAnioneof52icoco3cnocbuipalominelostkiwichia
  • Reply 12 of 97
    Actually, I'm completely OK with this. If you work for government you should have zero expectation of privacy.

    In fact, this "gentleman" and all politicians and government employees should be outfitted with 24/7 body cameras and microphones so any time they violate our millions of laws and regulations the evidence will be right there. It would save billions in needless investigations, end harassment and corruption and expose to Americans the real threats in this country.

    Plus, I'd like to see the collection of private data on Americans by government illegal, purely for our protection.
    edited February 2016 uncommonasiancaliicoco3spinnyd
  • Reply 13 of 97
    Screw this ass-clown. 
    JamesBBcalianantksundaramAMCmagman1979
  • Reply 14 of 97
    jdgazjdgaz Posts: 403member
    I am really sorry to say I voted for this guy the last time around. He will equip his office with cell phones that can easily be controlled by cartels and foreign governments. SO much for protecting the public. Shamefully short sighted.
    JamesBBcaliewtheckmanlostkiwidamonfentropys
  • Reply 15 of 97
    nealc5 said:
    So they will buy Samsung or LG phones instead? A very RED and patriotic US police department would rather buy from a foreign company than a US company (yes, they build their phones in China too)?
    Right, not to mention security as a whole. How many vulnerabilities pop up in Android with hardware that the manufacturer does not patch?
    JamesBBcaliicoco3
  • Reply 16 of 97
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,673member
    LOL

    That's a fantastic idea: as government employees, you are not allowed to use the most secure devices available.

    What the hell is wrong with these people? Anyone who says or thinks Apple is siding with terrorists are ignorant simpletons who don't deserve to use an iPhone anyway. They clearly do no understand or cannot comprehend the actual implications of the issue at hand. Furthermore, they are too stupid to realize that if you're handing out devices to your employees to use for work, you can (and usually do) install additional software to manage those devices.

    Although this could be a smart move, he might be worried that his department would also hire Muslim terrorists just as San Bernardino County did. By not giving his staff iPhones, they would be able to get into their phones if such a thing would happen. /s
    edited February 2016 JamesBBrrrizecaliewtheckmanAMClostkiwitdknoxchiaspinnyd
  • Reply 17 of 97
    Crazy stupid clown not sure why this clown can be fit to be attorney dont even know about technology encryption and thought encryption is like switch on and off easy to do it. Stupid idiotic crap hope lightninig strike all this crap who know nothing about it.
    JamesBBcaliAMC
  • Reply 19 of 97
    Wonder how long he will stay in office after this... doubt it is even legal.
    edited February 2016 AMC
  • Reply 20 of 97
    bbhbbh Posts: 134member
    These are the would be facists that would deny citizens any privacy....all under the guise of "fightin' terrorism". 
    caliewtheckmanAMCAnilostkiwispinnyd
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