Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, has surprisingly backed the FBI in the government’s fight with Apple to get the tech giant to unlock a phone used by one of the San Bernardino, California shootings.
Gates said that he is supporting the FBI in this fight because the bureau’s demand is about one particular phone. He also suggested that the tech industry should be forced to work with law enforcement agencies when it comes to terrorism investigations, reports NBC News.
“This is a specific case where the government is asking for access to information. They are not asking for some general thing, they are asking for a particular case,” Gates is quoted as saying in a Financial Times report.
Gates is essentially on his own here, as Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and Google’s Sundar Pichai have backed Apple in this fight.
The FBI is trying to get into the phone of Sayed Farook, one of the two shooters who killed 14 people in San Bernardino in December. A court order said that Apple must create a version of iOS to enable the FBI to unlock the phone, but Apple has refused.
Over the weekend, the FBI called Apple’s refusal a “marketing strategy,” but Apple insisted that it is much more than that. Apple believes that if it creates such a software, the government could request to use it again, or it could even fall into the wrong hands.
“We feel strongly that if we were to do what the government has asked of us — to create a backdoor to our products — not only is it unlawful, but it puts the vast majority of good and law abiding citizens, who rely on iPhone to protect their most personal and important data, at risk,” Apple said in a Q&A on its site.
Apple has until Feb. 26 to respond to the order in court.