SAN FRANCISCO — The Justice Department said Monday that it was withdrawing a legal action that would have forced Apple to cripple the security system on an iPhone used by a terrorist.
The
Justice Department is stepping back from the case — which involved
demanding Apple’s help to open the iPhone used by Syed Rizwan Farook, a
gunman in a mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., last year — because
law enforcement has found another way into the device, officials said
in a filing.
“The
government has now successfully accessed the data stored on Farook’s
iPhone and therefore no longer requires the assistance from Apple,” the
Justice Department said in the filing.
It is unclear what useful data, if any, was found on Mr. Farook’s device.
The
government’s decision ends an immediate legal battle with Apple that
had grown increasingly contentious because the giant technology company
had refused to help authorities, citing privacy issues. Yet law
enforcement’s ability to unlock an iPhone through an alternative method
raises new questions, including about the strength of Apple’s security
on its devices.
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