14 DAY TRIAL // Apple and FBI officials are set to testify in front of the Congress on March 1, but in the meantime, people involved in the San Bernardino iPhone saga keep releasing comments on the case.
The latest person to do it is none other than San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan who told NPR in an interview that although the FBI presses Apple to help hack that iPhone, there are big chances to find zero useful details on the device.
“I'll be honest with you, I think that there is a reasonably good chance that there is nothing of any value on the phone. What we are hoping might be on the phone would be potential contacts that we would obviously want to talk to,” he said.
He went on to explain that although he believes that Apple might be doing the right thing by opposing the court ruling, the iPhone may actually hold some evidence that could help the FBI in its investigation. Chances for this are very small though, he added.
“The worst-case scenario obviously, is that maybe there was some information on there that would lead to a larger plot or to a larger network and therefore are other people out there that are still a potential danger. I think the probability is probably low, but it could be,” he continued.
“Apple should consider helping the FBI”
Burguan revealed that he’s one of the many Apple fanboys and has both an iPhone and an iPad and explained that everyone should be concerned about the security of their devices. And despite his pro-Apple position, the San Bernardino police chief thinks that Apple should consider helping the FBI hack the iPhone because of one simple reason: the backdoor could become useless when a new iOS version comes out.
“At the speed of technology, this particular operating system will be obsolete in six months to a year. It'll be completely replaced by a new system and whatever version of iOS this is will be, you know, useless in a short period of time,” he pointed out.
And while he might be right with this, there’s another thing Apple has in mind when refusing to help the FBI break into the iPhone: the company’s image. If Apple gives up and hacks the iPhone, Cupertino’s business could be significantly hurt and this is actually one of the reasons why some people accused the company of using this case as a marketing stunt. But in the meantime, neither the government nor Apple wants to give up, so the dispute moves to the Congress for now.