Family of murdered soldier criticize Apple's refusal to hack San Beadino shooter's iPhone - CNET

The family of a British soldier murdered by Islamic extremists has criticised Apple's refusal to abide by a court order to hack into an iPhone linked to December's terrorist attack in San Beardino, Califoia.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook spoke out against the court order on Wednesday, calling the situation "chilling" and saying that it would be a major setback for online privacy. He was backed by a number of digital rights groups and tech leaders, but not everyone agrees with his stance.

Apple is "protecting a murderer's privacy at the cost of public safety," Ray McClure, the uncle of Fusilier Lee Rigby, told the BBC on Thursday. Rigby was off duty and walking down the street near his barracks in Woolwich, England in May 2013 when he was the victim of a brutal attack by two men who told witnesses they were avenging the killing of Muslims by British soldiers.

At the heart of the debate is the ongoing tussle over encryption between tech giants and US and UK law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Facebook, Apple and Google all want to protect the privacy of their customers by ensuring their security is watertight, but govements are putting pressure on them to create new ways to hack devices, arguing that privacy should not come at the expense of national security.

In the court order handed to Apple the company was told it must assist the FBI in unlocking an iPhone linked to San Beardino gunman Syed Rizwan Farook. The FBI wants Apple build a new version of its iOS software that would be able to bypass the iPhone's security so that it would be able to hack any device remotely.