Tuesday Hearing Looms on Apple v. FBI in San Bernardino iPhone Access

Apple and the federal government are headed for a closely watched showdown in U.S. District Court in Riverside, California, Tuesday over an order to compel the company to help FBI investigators get access to an iPhone used by one of the shooters in the Dec. 2 San Bernardino mass shooting (see 1602170068). Federal Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym will hear the case -- scheduled for 1 p.m. PDT -- that may have wider international implications. Apple wants Pym to dismiss the case, saying the government is misapplying the All Writs Act to force Apple to create new software that would help investigators break into the device (see 1603160060) and would set a precedent to permit the government to create back doors for all devices. DOJ and the FBI have argued the act has been "regularly invoked" and have mostly said it wouldn't set a precedent (see 1603110010). But FBI Director James Comey acknowledged earlier this month at a congressional hearing that any decision could be "potentially precedential," though not binding (see 1603010013). Some who expect the case would head to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and possibly up to the Supreme Court (see 1602220026) have said the case could have reverberations across the world and affect millions of people (see 1603040023). “The outcome of this case could not be more important for the future of privacy and security in the digital age," American Civil Liberties Union staff attorney Alex Abdo said Monday in a statement. "If the FBI wins, it will have gained the power to force the tech companies to hack their customers. This is a reckless pursuit that threatens to undermine the security of all our devices, not just the one phone at issue in the case.” But Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., wrote in a Time opinion piece Thursday that "Apple is not fighting for privacy; it's fighting for profit." The FBI's request isn't different from other Fourth Amendment approved searches and wouldn't affect Americans' privacy, he said.