Apple’s confrontation with federal authorities over iPhone access isn’t limited to the case of the San Bernardino terrorists – the issue is currently being fought in courts across the country, new documents reveal.
Prosecutors have asked the company to help them breach iPhones in at least 15 pending cases in various jurisdictions — including two in Manhattan federal court, a filing unsealed Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court states.
Apple attorneys have formally objected to 11 of those requests and will likely refuse to comply with the remaining two, according to a letter from company attorney Marc Zwillinger.
The disclosures were made at the direction of Brooklyn federal court Judge James Orenstein, who has yet to rule on a request by Eastern District prosecutors to hack into the phone of a drug dealer.
Zwillinger, who is representing Apple in the Brooklyn case, submitted the filing on Feb. 17 and Orenstein unsealed the document Tuesday.
After complying with at least 70 orders to help federal investigators access encrypted iPhones, Apple has now declined to carry out the requests citing privacy concerns.
The fight drew global headlines when Apple rejected a California judge’s order to have them hack into the phone of one of the San Bernardino terrorists, Syed Rizwan Farook, who was killed in a shootout with police.
But the parameters of the dispute were set months prior when Orenstein refused to order the company to bust into a methamphatmine
