Apple opposes Judge's order to unlock shooter's phone

Boyd

Administrator
Staff member
Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
9,824
3,004
Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
I think your earlier assessment of them getting around the passcode lock was pretty good. Again, read the court order, it doesn't mention any form of encryption. It just asks for "reasonable technical assistance" to disable the automatic locking/erasure of the phone.

Really I think the government can already do this, but they just want to CYA on the slight chance that they mess up and brick the phone. You might also think it was significant that the government did NOT ask about breaking encryption. Going back to my earlier (admittedly poor) analogy, it would be like saying, "just turn off the security system, we've got our own lock-pick and nitroglycerin". ;)
 

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,658
4,834
Pines; Bamber area
He is not to be trusted nor is he a hero in this, it just so happens that, in this case, a corporate objective coincidentally happens to align with the best interests of the little guy.

Except maybe, for the little guy who's parents were killed by that terrorist. I hope when this gets to the supreme court some reason will prevail. Imagine if your loved one was found dead with an IPhone in their hand. Who were they talking to and what did they say? Sorry, can't tell you, it's against their right to privacy.
 

SuperChooch

Explorer
Aug 26, 2011
394
429
48
Except maybe, for the little guy who's parents were killed by that terrorist. I hope when this gets to the supreme court some reason will prevail. Imagine if your loved one was found dead with an IPhone in their hand. Who were they talking to and what did they say? Sorry, can't tell you, it's against their right to privacy.
BTW- just to be clear, I don't give a hoot about the privacy of this vile, disgusting animal. My argument is creating the capability to violate his privacy could very well lead to the violation of everyone's privacy. Now that is just my personal opinion and they are like, well, you know. ;-)
 

Gibby

Piney
Apr 4, 2011
1,644
442
Trenton
I don't see the problem with the court order. This is exactly how law enforcement is suppose to work. They are looking to fill in the missing eighteen minutes and want to know who was spoken to during that time period. There is no mass surveillance, no mass data collection but a specific request for assistance in preventing the lock out of a phone. Lives will possibly be saved and many questions will have answers.
 
Last edited:

imkms

Explorer
Feb 18, 2008
603
242
SJ and SW FL

This article is referring to a different matter, and that s maliciously hijacking anyones data over the airwaves, as opposed to unlocking one phone, used by a murdering terrorist (now dead) to view its specific onboard data by a Federal Law Agency. WiFi piracy is an old problem and anyone who uses any free or public WiFi should never send anything they wouldn't want anyone else to see as its just not secure enough. The one character in that story should have been arrested!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: bobpbx

Jon Holcombe

Explorer
Dec 1, 2015
967
1,934
Medford
This is off topic, but perhaps relevant. I just installed OS X El Capitan on my Mac, and suddenly new text message alerts and face time call alerts started popping up on my computer. Now, I have an iPhone, and I have a Mac, but I don't recall, during installation, telling Apple to link my iPhone account to my computer. My point is, if someone can hack my iPhone, do they have a back door to my computer? I am an artist, not a techie, but everything of importance to my life is on my computer. I'm ascared. Of anyone who could wrest control of my life away from me (the government, Apple, ATT, etc.)
 

46er

Piney
Mar 24, 2004
8,837
2,144
Coastal NJ
This is off topic, but perhaps relevant. I just installed OS X El Capitan on my Mac, and suddenly new text message alerts and face time call alerts started popping up on my computer. Now, I have an iPhone, and I have a Mac, but I don't recall, during installation, telling Apple to link my iPhone account to my computer. My point is, if someone can hack my iPhone, do they have a back door to my computer? I am an artist, not a techie, but everything of importance to my life is on my computer. I'm ascared. Of anyone who could wrest control of my life away from me (the government, Apple, ATT, etc.)

My suggestion to you is use a system not connected to the internet for your important stuff and get a cheapo for the internet. Then all you have to worry about are mechanical issues. I've been doing things this way for a very long time with little inconvenience and a peaceful easy feeling, but I don't use a Mac even though my systems have a core ;)
 

Boyd

Administrator
Staff member
Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
9,824
3,004
Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
This is off topic, but perhaps relevant. I just installed OS X El Capitan on my Mac

I'd say that it's not relevant.... But what version of MacOSX was on your computer before you upgraded? Newer versions of MacOSX use your Apple ID for this kind of thing. Unless you go into the system preferences and specifically disable these features, you will get alerts on your computer for iMessages (not "text messages") and facetime calls. I have a Mac Mini dedicated as an iTunes server and don't want these kinds of alerts on it. When I first set it up, it took awhile to find all the different preferences that needed to be set to accomplish that. Otherwise, you will continue getting these notifications on your Mac as long as you are signed in with the same AppleID as your phone.

What kind of backup strategy do you have? I use a time capsule for continuous backup, weekly backup to an offsite disk, and weekly bootable clones to a disk in another location. If you haven't given some consideration to backups, then you should be very worried...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jon Holcombe

Jon Holcombe

Explorer
Dec 1, 2015
967
1,934
Medford
What kind of backup strategy do you have? I use a time capsule for continuous backup, weekly backup to an offsite disk, and weekly bootable clones to a disk in another location. If you haven't given some consideration to backups, then you should be very worried...

I have a Mac Pro with four 6 TB internal drives and 5 external HD's, a boot drive on SSD in PCie slot. I have double redundant back-ups of all of my documents so I am definitely covered there. The problem is I have 4 TB of data. That rules out cloud backup. Went from 10.8 to 10.11. I know that I can disable these alerts, and I have not signed up for iCloud. I actually thought I'd let the Apple alerts ride a bit, since I trust Apple more than most companies. My larger point is, that when plugged in (and I have to be), there are good reasons to "allow location" and access, and good reasons not to. Let me just state for others reading this, since I use my real name on this forum, that I have an alarm system, malaysian whip booby traps, a moat, safe room, and gun turret in my roof. And then theres my wife. Pretty but dangerous.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bobpbx

Boyd

Administrator
Staff member
Site Administrator
Jul 31, 2004
9,824
3,004
Ben's Branch, Stephen Creek
I think your Apple ID must be entered somewhere on your Mac in order for those alerts to appear. I kept my primary Mac on 10.8 because I see no advantage to upgrading and use a lot of old software that would just break.

That is quite a system for someone who "is not a techie"… ;)
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,951
8,694
I kept my primary Mac on 10.8 because I see no advantage to upgrading and use a lot of old software that would just break.


Same here except I am 10.10.5. My Parellels will stop working if I upgrade. I need it for a few PC programs I use to stone search.
 
Top