Score one for privacy. 。
Apple intends to update its iOS with a new feature that will make it significantly more difficult for law enforcement agencies to access data on locked iPhones. While we learned last month that something similar was in the works, we now know for sure that the Cupertino-based tech giant intends to go ahead with the move. 。
SEE ALSO:Apple vs. the FBI never ended, and the FBI is winning 。SEE ALSO:Apple vs. the FBI never ended, and the FBI is winning。 At issue, reports the 。New York Times。
, is the $15,000 GrayKey device. It allows law enforcement officials to gain access to locked phones via the lightning port weeks after they were last unlocked. This new protection from Apple, likely an update of USB Restricted Mode, will in theory prevent devices like GrayKey from working any time over an hour after the moment the phone was last unlocked.。
In other words, by the time police get a warrant to access your locked phone with a GrayKey, the GrayKey won't work.。 In other words, by the time police get a warrant to access your locked phone with a GrayKey, the GrayKey won't work. 。Importantly, the 。
Times 。
Mashable Light SpeedWant more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories?Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter.。
By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.。 Thanks for signing up!。Law enforcement agencies across the country, perhaps unsurprisingly, are not welcoming this development. 。
“If we go back to the situation where we again don’t have access, now we know directly all the evidence we’ve lost and all the kids we can’t put into a position of safety,” the Indiana State Police's Chuck Cohen told the。Times。 Times 。. Cohen leads the task force on internet crimes against children. 。
The port in question.Credit: LILI SAMS/MASHABLE 。
Notably, in a statement to the。
Times 。
, Apple insisted that this isn't about making it harder for cops to do their jobs.。
“We have the greatest respect for law enforcement," Apple spokesperson Fred Sainz told the paper, "and we don’t design our security improvements to frustrate their efforts to do their jobs.”
"We have no indication that Grayshift is going to sell these devices only to U.S. law enforcement," he explained. "They, like any other business that does this, have to ask themselves: How far is too far? What regime is too antithetical to your own principle that you won't sell the devices to? What regime is too antithetical to your own principle that you won't sell the devices to?" 。