Apple refuses to unlock the San Bernardino iPhone
The FBI asks Apple to write software that would weaken every iPhone's encryption; Apple says no
Quick facts
- Phone
- iPhone 5C belonging to a San Bernardino attacker
- FBI request
- 9 February 2016
- Apple's position
- Refused, citing precedent risk to all users' encryption
- Resolution
- FBI paid a third party over $1.3 million to unlock the phone independently
What happened
After the December 2015 San Bernardino terrorist attack, the FBI recovered an iPhone 5C that had belonged to one of the shooters, but could not access its data because of the encryption built into iOS. On 9 February 2016, the FBI announced it wanted Apple's help, and a court order followed asking Apple to build custom software that would let investigators bypass the phone's passcode limits and try unlimited password guesses. Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly refused, arguing that creating such a tool at all, even for one phone, would create a permanent capability that could be turned against any iPhone user's encryption in the future. The FBI dropped its legal demand after paying a third-party contractor more than $1.3 million to break into the phone without Apple's help.
Why it matters
The case became the highest-profile public argument over whether government agencies should be able to compel a technology company to weaken its own encryption for law enforcement access, a debate that intensified after Edward Snowden's 2013 disclosures of NSA mass surveillance programs and remains unresolved in law today.
How we know
NPR's ongoing coverage series on the dispute documents the FBI's February 2016 request, Apple's public refusal, and the eventual withdrawal of the case after the FBI paid an outside vendor to unlock the phone independently.
Sources
- NPR. The Apple-FBI Debate Over Encryption · Reputable sourcenpr.org · The domain "npr.org" is on our Reputable source registry.
- Electronic Frontier Foundation. The FBI Could Have Gotten Into the San Bernardino Shooter's iPhone, and Its Leadership Didn't Say So · General sourceeff.org · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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