Apple today opposed a US court's ruling to unlock the iPhone of a Pakistani-American terrorist who shot dead 14 people in California in December, saying the "unprecedented step" would threaten the security of its customers.
In an open letter to its customers, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that building a backdoor access to encrypted data on the iPhone of San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook would be "too dangerous" to create.
Cook's response comes a day after a federal judge ordered Apple to provide investigators access to Farook's iPhone after the company "declined to provide" it voluntarily.
"The United States government has demanded that Apple take an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers.
"We oppose this order, which has implications far beyond the legal case at hand," Cook wrote in his message to its customers.
He said that for many years, Apple has used encryption to protect its customers' personal data because it believes it is the only way to keep their information safe.
"We have even put that data out of our own reach, because we believe the contents of your iPhone are none of our business," he argued.
Informing its customers that Apple has co-operated with security agencies, including the FBI in the investigation of San Bernardino attackers, up to this point, he said the company has done everything that is both within its power and within the law to help authorities.
"But now the US government has asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create. They have asked us to build a backdoor to the iPhone," Cook said.
Specifically, the FBI wants Apple to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation.
"In the wrong hands, this software - which does not exist today - would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone's physical possession," he warned.
"The FBI may use different words to describe this tool, but make no mistake: Building a version of iOS that bypasses security in this way would undeniably create a backdoor.
"And while the government may argue that its use would be limited to this case, there is no way to guarantee such control," Cook said.
Farook and his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik shot dead 14 people and injured 22 others at an office party in San Bernardino, California, before they were killed in a shootout with police.
