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Apple To FBI: Encryption Rules Out Handing Over iMessage Data In Real Time

Posted by timothy on from the oh-did-you-want-that? dept.

Mark Wilson writes that Apple has balked at a court order to provide the FBI with the contents of text messages among users of its iMessage service, claiming that the encryption it uses to protect these messages makes handing over the messages themselves impossible. From the article: The Justice Department obtained a court order that required Apple to provide real time access to text messages sent between suspects in an investigation involving guns and drugs. Apple has responded by saying that the fact iMessage is encrypted means that it is simply not able to comply with the order. The stand-off between the US government and Apple could last for some time as neither side is willing — or possibly able — to back down.

7 of 306 comments (clear)

  1. Why not ... by zeugma-amp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... give them what they are asking for? Just hand over the encrypted data and say "good luck with that".

    --
    This is an ex-parrot!
    1. Re:Why not ... by MasseKid · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Exactly. This is the data apple has, it's the data being requested, the fact that neither apple nor the FBI can do anything useful with it should be of no legal concern to apple.

    2. Re:Why not ... by Daniel_Staal · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Because the FBI will argue that's not the contents of the messages - it is something else. So Apple would be resisting the court order anyway.

      In fact, Apple may well be doing that, and this is how it's being reported.

      --
      'Sensible' is a curse word.
    3. Re: Why not ... by pr0fessor · · Score: 5, Insightful

      More like a cop asks you to open someone else's locked car because it's parked in your parking lot. They can tow it and break into it but you can't unlock it because you don't have the keys.

    4. Re:Why not ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Because the FBI will argue that's not the contents of the messages - it is something else. So Apple would be resisting the court order anyway.

      They will never, ever, ever argue that in court. Because if the judge agrees, that would be precedent that would pave the way for a solid Fifth Amendment defense against surrendering encryption keys. As much as the FBI would like a ruling on that -- it's currently a legal grey area, as there's not been a good test case -- they *really* don't want to set precedent that key surrender would be testifying against one's self... which, if they argue that encrypted data is fundamentally different from the desired decrypted data, they will have done. (If encrypted data is fundamentally different (and is not simply a "locked" version of the data, as the FBI would prefer people to mis-understand it...), then forcing people to decrypt their data is forcing them to create evidence against themselves.)

  2. Well, they COULD also encrypt for the FBI... by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As I understand the iMessage, Apple hides some of the key selection process from end users. (This is considered a good thing - without it, fewer people would use it because it would be like using PGP.) If Apple was compelled, they could also encrypt outgoing messages with one of the FBI's public keys and either send the same message across the wire (where the FBI could pick it up) or send a second message encrypted just for the FBI to the FBI. Either method would be discoverable, but Apple could paper over that issue in its interface because it controls the software. (Apple could also limit the discoverability of such a "feature" by using its phone home key request to request the FBI's key for and encrypt only certain monitored people's communications - that way most security experts WOULDN'T see a change.)

    Long story short, Apple COULD provide real-time access to encrypted messages, but it would take a little work to sneak that in, and eventually someone would find it.

  3. Re:So, the FBI doesn't need to ask for Android? by Solandri · · Score: 5, Informative

    Android uses regular SMS for texts, which was never encrypted on any OS. The FBI would be asking the carriers for copies of those, unless it's over the Google Hangouts app using a Google Voice number, in which case they'd have to ask Google.

    Apple runs the iPhone texts over their own iMessage service, which has a gateway to SMS for messages sent to non-iPhone users. (Which is also a problem since if you used to have an iPhone but switched to any other phone, Apple keeps iMessage texts sent to you within iMessage and blackholes them to a non-existant iPhone, instead of forwarding them over the SMS gateway to your new phone. Part of their user lock-in strategy. They're actually fighting in court for the right to keep doing this, instead of not being dicks and fixing it.)