FBI agents dish on Tim Cook, Apple in private texts discussing iPhone encryption debate
Documents recently aired in an ongoing investigation into the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton probe show texts between two agency officials discussing 2016's encryption debate, offering a revealing look at government sentiment at the time.
Made public by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, private texts between FBI counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok and bureau lawyer Lisa Page touch on a range of hot-button topics. Among them is Apple's refusal to comply with a court order requesting the company unlock an iPhone related to the San Bernardino terror attacks, a move that triggered intense debate in government and tech industry circles.
Spotted by Business Insider, the exchange is obviously not representative of all FBI agents or their associates, but its contents sheds light on the opinions of insiders close to the incendiary issue. Such access is a rarity, especially from closed government sources.
As a refresher, the FBI in 2016 sought and acquired a federal court order that required Apple to assist in extracting data from an iPhone 5c used by San Bernardino gunman Syed Rizwan Farook. Apple declined, vowing to fight the demand on the basis that unlocking, creating a backdoor into, or otherwise tampering with one iPhone's security protocols would put all users at risk.
The Department of Justice later stepped in with a motion to force Apple's hand. Just as the case was set to enter hearings, the FBI found an outside contractor capable of cracking the iPhone 5c's defenses. The DOJ consequently dropped its side of the case, ending proceedings before a precedent-setting judgment could be delivered.
The recently unearthed texts were sent at around the time Apple declined to cooperate with FBI officials. It should be noted that neither Strzok nor Page worked on the Apple case, though Page was informed by an unknown party as to who the FBI contracted to unlock the terrorist's iPhone.
"And what makes me really angry about that Apple thing? The fact that Tim Cook plays such the privacy advocate," Strzok told Page in a text dated Feb. 9, 2016. "Yeah, jerky, your entire OS is designed to track me without me even knowing it."
"I know. Hypocrite," Page replied.
Shortly after word of the FBI request came out, Cook wrote an open letter to customers that was posted to the company's website. Strzok was none too pleased with the move.
"Oh god. And [REDACTED] is trying to explain/defend apple's position. Based entirely on the misinformation Apple and privacy groups are spewing," Strzok wrote.
Along with Apple, the pair criticize politicians, newspapers, spies and other entities, the reports says.
In related banter, Page reveals she persuaded an associate named Brian to "tell me the whole story of the Apple thing," referring to how the FBI accessed Farook's iPhone. Though the section of text is redacted, a response from Strzok seems to imply he, too, knows the identity of the third party.
"Hey, I was just following directions to keep it quiet," Strzok wrote. "Everyone and their mother wants to know how we did it and who the third party is. Hope he didn't tell you for former as that is likely classified by now..."
The entire string is worth a look, even if it only conveys the thoughts of two officials.
Made public by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, private texts between FBI counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok and bureau lawyer Lisa Page touch on a range of hot-button topics. Among them is Apple's refusal to comply with a court order requesting the company unlock an iPhone related to the San Bernardino terror attacks, a move that triggered intense debate in government and tech industry circles.
Spotted by Business Insider, the exchange is obviously not representative of all FBI agents or their associates, but its contents sheds light on the opinions of insiders close to the incendiary issue. Such access is a rarity, especially from closed government sources.
As a refresher, the FBI in 2016 sought and acquired a federal court order that required Apple to assist in extracting data from an iPhone 5c used by San Bernardino gunman Syed Rizwan Farook. Apple declined, vowing to fight the demand on the basis that unlocking, creating a backdoor into, or otherwise tampering with one iPhone's security protocols would put all users at risk.
The Department of Justice later stepped in with a motion to force Apple's hand. Just as the case was set to enter hearings, the FBI found an outside contractor capable of cracking the iPhone 5c's defenses. The DOJ consequently dropped its side of the case, ending proceedings before a precedent-setting judgment could be delivered.
The recently unearthed texts were sent at around the time Apple declined to cooperate with FBI officials. It should be noted that neither Strzok nor Page worked on the Apple case, though Page was informed by an unknown party as to who the FBI contracted to unlock the terrorist's iPhone.
"And what makes me really angry about that Apple thing? The fact that Tim Cook plays such the privacy advocate," Strzok told Page in a text dated Feb. 9, 2016. "Yeah, jerky, your entire OS is designed to track me without me even knowing it."
"I know. Hypocrite," Page replied.
Shortly after word of the FBI request came out, Cook wrote an open letter to customers that was posted to the company's website. Strzok was none too pleased with the move.
"Oh god. And [REDACTED] is trying to explain/defend apple's position. Based entirely on the misinformation Apple and privacy groups are spewing," Strzok wrote.
Along with Apple, the pair criticize politicians, newspapers, spies and other entities, the reports says.
In related banter, Page reveals she persuaded an associate named Brian to "tell me the whole story of the Apple thing," referring to how the FBI accessed Farook's iPhone. Though the section of text is redacted, a response from Strzok seems to imply he, too, knows the identity of the third party.
"Hey, I was just following directions to keep it quiet," Strzok wrote. "Everyone and their mother wants to know how we did it and who the third party is. Hope he didn't tell you for former as that is likely classified by now..."
The entire string is worth a look, even if it only conveys the thoughts of two officials.
Comments
The actual names of the FBI agents involved in this case are - "Beavis" and "Butthead."
- why photos builds a ubiquitous image tagging database, with no off switch
- why all install roads seem to lead to iCloud (takes a concerted effort to avoid)
- why basic S/MIME email encryption is not offered by default 'for the rest of us'
- why the app store seems so persistent in nature (no edit/delete)
Can one slip of the mouse load all data to Apple servers...?
Is this boil the frog territory, yet again...?
Is HomePod listening (yet)...?
Also, determining your “exact” location is increased if you turn WiFi ON. Mine (+Bluetooth) is disabled unless needed. The main problem with WiFi is unsecured networks, you don’t want to accidentally connect to one of those without a VPN enabled.
Google tracts your online activity as well. That’s generally not part of Apple’s business model...
The biggest creepy thing in iOS is it randomly turns on WiFi without permission from the user....
Control Center only disconnects from current network.After 1 day it turns back on.
Apple does not make money by tracking your movements. Google does.HUGE difference.Apple does not need to care.
Well I feel safer just knowing they’re out there.
I don't know what you're asking with the "all install roads seem to lead to iCloud". It's easy to use an iOS device without storing anything on iCloud.
S/MIME probably isn't included because almost nobody uses it. I tried to for years, and I cannot count the number of times people said "What's this smime.p7s? Did you infect me with a virus?" It was deeply tedious explaining this to people.
What are you talking about with the App Store line? Edit/delete what? A developer can edit their posted applications and delete them easily. A customer can also delete items from their purchase history. I'm not sure what else involving the App Store a person would want to edit or delete.
No, one slip of a mouse can't upload everything to Apple's servers. iCloud backups are the closest you get to that, they don't include all data, and most users need more storage than the default 5 GB. Purchasing a storage upgrade accidentally would be quite a feat.
As for HomePod, it (like everything with Hey Siri functionality so far) does keyword recognition fully locally. Until it recognizes the phrase "Hey Siri", it sends nothing anywhere. Once it hears the phrase, it starts sending some data to Apple to be recognized and processed. You can watch this with a network capture on a router or what-have-you.
so, from a services point of view regarding apps and such. I would not be entirely surprised if Apple does track “you” remember people have the option to voluntarily opt in or out of sending diagnostic info to Apple for evaluation.
Frankly. I would much rather use an iPhone than an android.
Theres a major difference, between Apple “tracking” you and the government hacking into your iPhone looking for criminal evidence.
The latter is More about principle. Do Apple grants access, that sets a future precedent for the fbi and law enforcement officials to come back for more so to speak.
People criticize Apple for standing up for privacy in America. But not in China. In America the government is built around the right to free speech and privacy for every individual. China is not. If Apple wants to Continue to sell the 1.5b Chinese they have to walk that tightrope and make compromises. They have to follow the letter of the Chinese law. And that appears to mean a perceived invasion of privacy from the Chinese government.
I think, that FBI agent pulled that argument straight from his arse, in order to make Apple look bad in his argument.