Apple should help the Federal Bureau of Investigation unlock one of the company’s smartphones, leading presidential contenders agreed at the Republican debate held on Thursday.
“The only thing they’re asking of Apple is that Apple allow them to use [FBI] systems … to try and guess the password of the San Bernardino killer,” Marco Rubio said at the debate, aired on CNN. “Apple initially came out saying we are being ordered to create a backdoor to an encryption device. That is not accurate.
“The only thing they’re being asked to do, and the FBI made this very clear … allow us to disable the self-destruct mode in the Apple phone, so we can try to guess using our own systems what the password of this killer was,” Rubio said.
Ted Cruz accused Rubio of stealing his position.
“As you know … his [previous] answer was on both sides of the fence, he’s now agreeing with me. So I’m glad. What I said was yes, Apple should be forced to comply with this court order … because under the Fourth Amendment, a search and seizure is reasonable if it has judicial authorization and probable cause.
“In this instance, the order is not [to] put a backdoor in everyone’s cellphone. If that was the order, that order would be problematic, because it would compromise security and safety for everyone. I would agree with Apple on that broad policy question. But on the question of unlocking this cellphone of a terrorist, we should enforce the court order, and find out everyone that terrorist in San Bernardino talked to on the phone, texted with, emailed, and absolutely Apple doesn’t have the right to defy a valid court order in a terrorism investigation.”
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Apple on Thursday appealed a federal court order that the company assist in the FBI in breaking into one of the company’s devices, an iPhone 5C. CEO Tim Cook likened such an action to “cancer” on Wednesday, while FBI Director James Comey warned that criminals are becoming increasingly difficult for the agency to track down.
