Manhattan District Attorney Attacks Apple’s Encryption Policy

Cyrus R. Vance, the District Attorney of Manhattan, has launched a scathing attack on Apple after CEO Tim Cook said that the company would resist any attempts by the US government to circumvent its user’s privacy, CBS New York reports.

In an interview with Charlie Rose on CBS News show 60 Minutes, Cook – a vocal supporter of end-to-end encryption – reaffirmed his stance on providing the best security possible for Apple customers, which means not building backdoors into its systems.

“If the government lays a proper warrant on us today, then we will give the specific information that is requested, because we have to by law. In the case of encrypted information, we don’t have it to give,” Cook said, adding, “I don’t believe the trade-off here is privacy versus national security.”

“If there’s a way to get in, then somebody will find a way to get in,” he continued. “There have been people that suggest that we should have a back door. But the reality is, if you put a back door in, that back door’s for everybody.”

Following the interview, Vance released a statement trashing Apple’s plan to fully encrypt its disks, claiming the company did it “so that it could no longer comply with the judicial search warrants that make this work possible.”

“iPhones are now the first consumer products in American history that are beyond the reach of lawful warrants,” Vance continued. “The result is crimes go unsolved and victims are left beyond the protection of law.”

In response, Vance called on the US government to force the company to give intelligence services access to its data, saying, “Because Apple is unwilling to help solve this problem, the time for a national, legislative solution is now.”