Tim Cook—Refused FBI demand to create iPhone backdoor in San Bernardino case, citing user privacy
In February 2016, Tim Cook publicly refused a court order to help the FBI unlock the iPhone of the San Bernardino shooter, publishing an open letter arguing that creating a backdoor would set a dangerous precedent and undermine security for all iPhone users. Cook framed encryption as essential to civil liberties. The FBI ultimately unlocked the phone with a third party's help and withdrew the case.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Encryption & Privacy | +toward | primary | +1.00 |
| User Privacy | +toward | primary | +1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | +1.180 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (1 signal)
Tim Cook published open letter refusing FBI demand to build iPhone backdoor
On February 17, 2016, Tim Cook published a public letter to Apple customers explaining why Apple would oppose a federal court order to help the FBI unlock the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone. Cook argued that building a backdoor would create a 'master key' threatening the security of hundreds of millions of iPhone users.