Snowden: FBI's claim it can't unlock the San Bernardino iPhone is 'bullshit'

(THE GUARDIAN) Edward Snowden, the whistleblower whoseNSA revelationssparked a debate on mass surveillance, has waded into the arguments over the FBI’s attempt toforce Appleto help it unlock the iPhone 5C of one of theSan Bernardino shooters.

The FBI says that only Apple can deactivate certain passcode protections on theiPhone, which will allow law enforcement to guess the passcode by using brute-force.

Talking via video link from Moscow to theCommon Cause Blueprint for a Great Democracyconference,Snowden said: “The FBI says Apple has the ‘exclusive technical means’ to unlock the phone. Respectfully, that’s bullshit.”

Snowden then went on to tweet his support for anAmerican Civil Liberties Union reportsaying that the FBI’s claims in the case are fraudulent.

Meanwhile, Microsoft founder Bill Gatessaid in a discussion on Reddit: “I think there needs to be a discussion about when the government should be able to gather information. What if we had never had wiretapping? Also the government needs to talk openly about safeguards.”

Gates refused to be drawn on one side or the other of the debate, despite seeminglysupporting the FBIand then backtracking. Microsoft later filed an amicus brief backing Apple against the FBI.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak also spoke out against the FBI on the Conan O’Brien showon Monday, saying: “I side with Apple on this one. [The FBI] picked the lamest case you ever could.”

Wozniak added: “Verizon turned over all the phone records and SMS messages. So they want to take this other phone that the two didn’t destroy, which was a work phone. It’s so lame and worthless to expect there’s something on it and to getAppleto expose it.”

Apple’s clash with the FBI comes to a head in California this month when the two will meet in federal court to debate whether the smartphone manufacturer should be required to weaken security settings on theiPhoneof the shooter.

The government’s case was dealt a potential setback when Magistrate Judge James Orenstein ruledagainst the government on 29 Februaryin a different phone-unlocking case, which the government iscurrently appealing.