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Apple to fight order from FBI refuels legal implications on privacy law
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February 18, 2016
U.S. Magistrate Judge recent order of Apple to help the FBI break into a specific iPhone is bringing privacy law back into the spotlight. The iPhone in question belongs to Syed Farook, one of the shooters in the Dec. 2 attack that killed 14 people in the US. Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, died in a gun battle with police.
McInnes Cooper partner, David Fraser, specializes in privacy and technology law. Fraser says, “Theoretically, we could have a similar case in Canada testing the boundaries of these laws, so we are looking closely at this and thinking what effect it might have on this side of the border.”
The ruling requires Apple to supply software the FBI can load onto an iPhone to bypass a self-destruct feature that erases the phone’s data if the password is incorrect multiple times. The broader issue of privacy law has been debated and is trending on Facebook and in other media. The implications are wide, and Apple maintains that the legislation will open the door for invasion of privacy for their users.
Fraser weighs in on the debate in an article on thestar.com.
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