Privacy vs. Public Interest: The Battle of Apple's iOS8

Apple launched its new operating system, iOS8, and among the new features is one that presents an interesting conflict between privacy and public interest.

With the old operating system, if the government needed to search a passcode-protected iPhone, they could send the phone and a search warrant to Apple. Apple would then unlock the phone by breaking through the passcode. However, with iOS8, Apple cannot bypass the passcode. Therefore, even if a lawful search warrant is issued, Apple is unable to access the data.

In this article, Orin Kerr, a Fred C. Stevenson Research Professor at The George Washington University of law School, discusses this conflict of constitutional values. He asks the question: How is the public interest served by a policy that only thwarts lawful search warrants?

Kerr's article explains Apple's new approach, discusses important legal issues raised by this development and talks about what Congress's reactions to this might be.

Check out his post for more.