Apple responded by saying it provided gigabytes of information to law enforcement related to the Pensacola case but that it would not build a “backdoor” or specialised software to give law enforcement further access.“We reject the characterization that Apple has not provided substantive assistance in the Pensacola investigation. Our responses to their many requests since the attack have been timely, thorough and are ongoing,” Apple said.
Apple regularly provides information from its servers to law enforcement when it is subpoenaed. Apple has responded to over 127,000 requests for information from law enforcement since 2013, according to its website. An Apple privacy official said earlier this month that the company has teams working around the clock to respond to law enforcement inquiries.
Trump took to Twitter to criticise Apple. "We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements. They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country, NOW! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN," Trump tweeted.
Apple was involved in a similar stand-off with the FBI in 2016, when the Justice Department sued the company to help it gain access to a phone used by Syed Farook, who was responsible for the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, that left 14 people dead. The stand-off ended when the FBI found an unidentified private vendor who cracked the phone’s security.
