For the past few months, Apple executives have been locked in a fierce security dispute against law enforcement officials working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This battle dates back to the San Bernardino shooting, when the iPhone used by one of the shooters, Tashfeen Malik, was discovered. This phone may be holding crucial information, such as who Malik and his wife contacted before killing 14 civilians and injuring 24. In order to access the information on Malik’s iPhone a passcode is required, which is what led to the FBI contacting Apple to seek help with this issue. But Apple argued that in order to unlock the phone, they would need to create new software, software they are refusing to make.

   So why is Apple resisting? The FBI argues that they only want Apple to create software to help them unlock this one phone. However, Apple asserted that because of the way iPhones are produced, if software is made to unlock one of their phones, it could be used to unlock all of their phones. This leads the company to fear that if they were to provide the FBI with this new software, they would be giving the FBI the ability to unlock any iPhone they wanted. Furthermore, Apple worries that unlocking this one iPhone is setting a bad precedent for the future, and that more governmental officials would step forward with iPhones of their own that they would demand Apple to unlock.

   The FBI contends that if Apple executives were to just cooperate in these types of cases, it would help to prevent terrorist attacks down the road. On March 3, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and many other technology companies centered in Silicon Valley filed court briefs in support of Apple. As of now, the FBI and Apple have been explaining their case to Congress, with a hearing being held on the matter on March 22. Both are prepared to appeal a decision they do not like, so it is very likely that this dispute will last for some time.