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Tag: apple inc
Trump Administration Subpoenaed Apple For Lawmakers' Personal Data

Trump Administration Subpoenaed Apple For Lawmakers' Personal Data

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Justice Department under former President Donald Trump subpoenaed Apple Inc for data from the accounts of at least two Democrats on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee in an attempt to find out who was behind leaks of classified information, the New York Times reported on Thursday. The records of at least a dozen people tied to the committee were seized in 2017 and early 2018, including those of Representative Adam Schiff, then the panel's top Democrat and now its chairman, the Times said. The paper cited unnamed committee officials and two other...

U.S. Tech Firms File Legal Brief Opposing Trump’s Travel Ban

U.S. Tech Firms File Legal Brief Opposing Trump’s Travel Ban

(Reuters) – Nearly 100 companies, including Apple, Google, and Microsoft, banded together on Sunday to file a legal brief opposing President Donald Trump’s temporary travel ban, arguing that it “inflicts significant harm on American business.”

The brief, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, included Facebook, Twitter, Intel, eBay, Netflix, and Uber, as well as non-tech companies such as Levi Strauss and Chobani.

Trump’s executive order of Jan. 27, the most contentious policy move of his first two weeks in office, faces crucial legal hurdles. A federal judge in Seattle on Friday blocked the move, and the Trump administration has a deadline on Monday to justify the action, which temporarily barred entry to the United States by people from seven mostly Muslim countries, as well as suspending the U.S. refugee program.

“The Order represents a significant departure from the principles of fairness and predictability that have governed the immigration system of the United States for more than fifty years,” the brief from the companies stated.

“The Order inflicts significant harm on American business, innovation, and growth as a result,” it added.

“Immigrants or their children founded more than 200 of the companies on the Fortune 500 list.”

U.S. tech companies, which employ many foreign-born nationals, have been among the most vocal groups in speaking out against Trump’s travel order, which he has defended as necessary to ensure closer vetting of people coming into the country and better protect the country from the threat of terrorist attacks.

Amazon.com and Expedia, both based in Washington state, had supported the Seattle lawsuit, asserting that the travel restrictions harmed their businesses.

Over the weekend, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco denied the Trump administration’s request for an immediate stay of the federal judge’s temporary restraining order that blocked nationwide the implementation of key parts of the travel ban.

But the court said it would reconsider the government’s request after receiving more information.

The government has until 3 p.m. PST on Monday to submit additional legal briefs to the appeals court in support of Trump’s executive order. Following that, the court is expected to act quickly, and a decision either way may ultimately result in the case reaching the U.S. Supreme Court.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Frances Kerry)

IMAGE: People hold protest signs during Friday prayers to show solidarity with the Muslim community at the Islamic Center of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, U.S. February 3, 2017.  REUTERS/Kevork Djansezian

Late Night Roundup: The Hitler/Trump Comparisons

Late Night Roundup: The Hitler/Trump Comparisons

Conan O’Brien decided that with everybody comparing Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler, he would bring on a special guest to respond to the charge: Adolf Hitler himself! (Portrayed by Sarah Silverman.)

“All these comparisons to Trump, it’s like — it bums me out. You know what I mean?” said Hitler/Sarah. “I mean, sometimes I watch him and I’m like, ‘Is that how people see me?'”

Larry Wilmore also spoke to another special guest, to comment on a new push in Missouri to exempt Christian business owners from having to serve gay people: Jesus Christ.

And on a more serious note, Stephen Colbert interviewed an important living person: Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who discussed such issues as the relationships between law enforcement and communities of color, between the federal government and the iPhone — and between the Justice Department and Hillary Clinton.

Trevor Noah highlighted the visit to Washington by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — and Trevor found himself becoming enchanted: “Why do I suddenly have the urge to throw my panties at the screen? I don’t even wear panties.” Or does he?

Jimmy Kimmel examined the latest issue from Wednesday night’s Democratic debate: The online arguments about what color Bernie Sanders’s suit was. Jimmy insisted: “That suit is so brown, Donald Trump wants to have it deported.”

Apple Lawyer, FBI Director Face Off In Congress On iPhone Encryption

Apple Lawyer, FBI Director Face Off In Congress On iPhone Encryption

By Julia Harte and Julia Edwards

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – FBI Director James Comey told a congressional panel on Tuesday that a final court ruling forcing Apple Inc (AAPL.O) to give the FBI data from an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters would be “potentially precedential” in other cases where the agency might request similar cooperation from technology companies.

The remarks were a slight change to Comey’s statement last week that ordering Apple to unlock the phone was “unlikely to be a trailblazer” for setting a precedent for other cases.

Tuesday’s testimony from Comey and remarks before the same U.S. House Judiciary Committee by Apple’s general counsel, Bruce Sewell, brought to Congress a public fight between Apple and the government over the dueling interests of privacy and security that has so far only been heard in the courts.

On Feb. 16, a federal court in California instructed Apple to write special software to unlock the iPhone 5c used by gunman Rizwan Farook, an order the company is contesting.

Sewell and Comey’s remarks also clarified some areas where the two sides fundamentally disagree. Comey said the tool created for Farook’s iPhone would not work on other models. But Sewell said the tool that Apple was being asked to create would work on any iPhone.

“This is not about the San Bernardino case. This is about the safety and security of every iPhone that is in use today,” Sewell said.

Committee members seized on Comey’s statement that the case could set a legal precedent allowing the agency access to any encrypted device.

“Given… that Congress has explicitly denied you that authority so far, can you appreciate our frustration that this case appears to be little more than an end run around this committee?” asked the panel’s ranking minority member, Michigan Representative John Conyers.

Comey responded that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was not asking to expand the government’s surveillance authority, but rather to maintain its ability to obtain electronic information under legal authorities that Congress has already provided.

He also acknowledged that it was a “mistake” for the FBI to have asked San Bernardino County officials to reset the phone’s cloud storage account after it was seized. The decision prevented the device, which was owned by the county, Farook’s employer, from backing up information that the FBI could have read.

Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, shot and killed 14 people and wounded 22 others last Dec. 2 before they were themselves killed in a shootout with police. The government has said the attack was inspired by Islamist militants and the FBI wants to read the phone’s data to investigate any links with militant groups.

Comey told a congressional panel last Thursday that the phone could have “locator services” that would help the agency fill in a gap in its knowledge of the route the couple traveled as they fled.

“We’re missing 19 minutes before they were finally killed by law enforcement,” Comey said. “The answer to that might be on the device.”

A federal judge handed Apple a victory in another phone unlocking case in Brooklyn on Monday, ruling that he did not have the legal authority to order Apple to disable the security of an iPhone that was seized during a drug investigation.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said on Tuesday at the RSA Cybersecurity conference in San Francisco that she was “disappointed” by the Brooklyn ruling, and rebuffed Apple’s claim that its Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination was being violated.

The Justice Department is “not alleging that [Apple has] done anything wrong,” Lynch said, but is treating the company as a third party holding data valuable to an ongoing investigation.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance testified in support of the FBI on Tuesday, arguing that default device encryption “severely harms” criminal prosecutions at the state level, including in cases in his district involving at least 175 iPhones.

(Reporting by Julia Edwards and Julia Harte; Editing by Bill Rigby and Grant McCool)

Photo: Bruce Sewell, senior vice president and general counsel for Apple Inc., watches as FBI Director James Comey testifies during a House Judiciary hearing on “The Encryption Tightrope: Balancing Americans’ Security and Privacy” on Capitol Hill in Washington March 1, 2016. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts