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FBI Releases (Redacted) Documents About The San Bernardino iPhone Case (go.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the [redacted] dept.

The FBI released 100 pages of documents about the unidentified vendor who unlocked the iPhone used by the San Bernardino shooter, but "censored critical details that would have shown how much the FBI paid, whom it hired and how it opened the phone." An anonymous reader quotes the Associated Press: The files make clear that the FBI signed a nondisclosure agreement with the vendor. The records also show that the FBI received at least three inquiries from companies interested in developing a product to unlock the phone, but none had the ability to come up with a solution fast enough for the FBI. The FBI also said in contracting documents that it did not solicit competing bids or proposals because it thought widely disclosing the bureau's needs could harm national security... The suit by the media organizations argued there was no legal basis to withhold the information and challenged the adequacy of the FBI's search for relevant records. It also said the public had a right to know whether the vendor has adequate security measures, is a proper recipient of government funds and will act only in the public interest. In refusing to provide the records, the FBI said the records had been compiled for law enforcement purposes and might interfere with ongoing enforcement proceedings, even though at the time the shooters were both dead and there were no indications others were involved.

2 of 35 comments (clear)

  1. Government and NDA's... WTF? by Marful · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How exactly does a public agency, beholden to the public enter a NDA?

    Shouldn't any NDA they enter just automatically be null and void?

    1. Re:Government and NDA's... WTF? by SeaFox · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You can def be bound by NDA when working with a Govt agency, I have be bound by several not to disclose technology or infrastructure while working with/for an agency.

      You have it backwards. This is the government being bound by the NDA of the private company. You're talking about yourself being bound by an NDA enforced for the government's infrastructure.