“A last-minute request by the FBI to call witnesses to next week’s court hearing in the San Bernardino iPhone case indicates the agency might feel some weakness in its legal arguments, Apple said,” Martyn Williams reports for IDG News Service.
“On Wednesday evening, the FBI asked for an evidentiary hearing, which means the court will hear live testimony from expert witnesses from both sides,” Williams reports. “Apple agreed to the FBI’s request on Thursday.”
“Speaking on Friday with reporters, lawyers for Apple said the FBI’s request was a surprise, and they don’t understand why the government wants to present witnesses to the court,” Williams reports. “If lawyers believe they have a strong legal case, they typically want to argue it without bothering with witnesses in these types of hearings, so the request may indicate that the FBI isn’t as comfortable as it was in relying solely on legal arguments, an Apple lawyer said.”
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“Those witnesses will include Eric Neuenschwander, Apple’s head of product security and privacy, who can speak to the company’s security measures and the feasibility of the government’s proposed system,” Russell Brandom reports for The Verge. “Neuenschwander filed a declaration to the court on Tuesday, which argued the government’s order would potentially endanger the Trusted Platform Module system used throughout the industry, including specific systems built by Tesla and Microsoft.”
“Neuenschwander also argued the existence of GovtOS could impact the personal safety of Apple employees,” Brandom reports. “‘Those employees, if identified, could themselves become targets of retaliation, coercion, or similar threats by bad actors seeking to obtain and use GovtOS for nefarious purposes,’ he wrote. ‘I understand that such risks are why intelligence agencies often classify the names and employment of individuals with access to highly sensitive data and information.'”
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MacDailyNews Take: Here’s to the FBI getting a legal boot in the teeth.
SEE ALSO:
The FBI has a big ulterior motive in its war against privacy and Apple’s encrypted iPhone – March 18, 2016
The law is clear: The FBI cannot make Apple rewrite iOS – March 18, 2016
Apple engineers, if ordered to unlock iPhone, might resist – March 17, 2016
Apple’s Tim Cook on FBI fight: ‘No one’s going dark’ – March 17, 2016
Harvard Law professor and former Obama special assistant dismisses FBI’s claims – March 17, 2016
Apple: The law already exists that protects us from U.S. government demands to hack iPhone – February 26, 2016