New bill would prevent 1789 law from applying to iPhones

A House lawmaker has introduced legislation that would prevent agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation from using a 200-year-old law to force tech companies to help hack into their own devices.

“The FBI’s recent attempt to interpret a 1789 law as granting them the power to compel a company to fundamentally undermine their product shocked privacy and intellectual property advocates across our nation,” Arizona Republican Rep. Matt Salmon said in a statement introducing his legislation.