DHAKA: The bandwagon of supporters in Apple’s fight against the FBI keeps getting bigger.
Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft, along with 11 other companies, filed on Thursday a joint amicus brief, a court filing that throws their support behind Apple as it prepares to face off against the US government in federal court later this month, reports cnet.
“The government is not just asking companies to do what they do in the normal course of business; the government is asking companies to change how they do business,” they said in their filing.
But while they noted that they don't have any sympathy for terrorists, the companies added that “cell phones are the way we organize and remember the things that are important to us; they are, in a very real way, an extension of our memories. And as a result, to access someone's cell phone is to access their innermost thoughts and their most private affairs.”
Their show of support came after Twitter, Airbnb, LinkedIn and 13 other companies filed a separate joint amicus brief, and Intel and AT&T submitted their own filings.
Apple also has the support of top industry groups, including the Consumer Technology Association, Information Technology Industry Council, TechNet and the BSA/Software Alliance.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation was joined by 46 cryptographers, researchers and technologists in their pro-Apple filing. Privacy International and the Human Rights Watch jointly filed their own brief.
The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday was the first to file its support for Apple in a brief.
Apple is compiling a list of all the briefs filed in its behalf on its website.
The tech world has largely sided with Apple CEO Tim Cook, with everyone ranging from mobile executives at a conference in Barcelona, Spain, to cyber security experts gathered in San Francisco getting behind the iPhone maker.
Despite their differences, they agree with Apple's argument that being forced by the US to create special software to break into its encrypted iPhone sets a dangerous precedent that could leave all of our devices vulnerable.
This so-called security “back door” concept can be applied to everything from a phone running on Google's Android software to a PC running on Microsoft's Windows 10 to personal medical devices.
“The target of the government's request in this case is Apple, but the government's theory would just as easily extend to any third-party developer that has as one of its functions collecting and storing personal information about the device's owner," the coalition of trade groups said in a 19-page joint brief.
“The authority sought by the government would therefore extend not only to phones, laptop computers and tablets, but also to automobiles that store information regarding location and times of use; insulin pumps that store information about blood sugar levels; and the myriad other devices that collect and store personal information.”
BDST: 2027 HRS, MAR 04, 2016
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