Apple boss Tim Cook has claimed obeying an FBI demand to help them hack into an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino killers would be “bad for America”.
A US court order has asked Apple to provide “reasonable technical assistance” to investigators who want to access the phone of Syed Rizwan Farook.
Farook and his wife were shot dead in December after slaughtering 14 people and wounding 22 others at a Christmas party in California. The FBI wants to examine what contact the pair had with extremist groups before their killing spree.
But Apple claims that helping the US Government override the iPhone’s security features would make the machines more open to hacking in the future.
Mr Cook said he would appeal to Barack Obama over the issue and was prepared to fight his case at the US Supreme Court if necessary.
He told ABC News his company was being asked to “write a piece of software that we view as sort of the equivalent of cancer" in order to access Farook's phone.
The software could "expose people to incredible vulnerabilities", he added, arguing that smartphones contained private information about users and even their families.
He said: "This would be bad for America. It would also set a precedent that I believe many people in America would be offended by."
Mr Cook added: “If a court can ask us to write this piece of software, think about what else they could ask us to write.
"Maybe it's an operating system for surveillance. Maybe it's the ability for law enforcement to turn on the camera. I mean, I don't know where this stops."
