[Another one] Father asks Apple to unlock his deceased child's iPhone

[DuckDodgers]

Quote

An Italian father has reportedly written to Apple CEO Tim Cook, pleading for help to unlock his dead 13-year-old son’s iPhone 6 so that he can retrieve the photos stored on it.

"I cannot give up. Having lost my [son] Dama, I will fight to have the last two months of photos, thoughts and words which are held hostage in his phone," Leonardo Fabbretti wrote in the March 21 letter, which was quoted Wednesday by Agence France Presse.

 

"I think what’s happened should make you think about the privacy policy adopted by your company. Although I share your philosophy in general, I think Apple should offer solutions for exceptional cases like mine," he said.

 

Since iOS 8, Apple has said that it has engineered its phones such that the company cannot access data held on a phone without the passcode. 

 

"I will continue the battle to recover my child’s iPhone data. I will not give up," he said in the interview. "He was also a minor. I have the right to access to the phone. There is in a bit of Dama’s life, and I do not want to be subtracted as well. They told me that the only possible operation is to reset the device, but doing so would delete the data, destroying [the iPhone’s] contents... I understand privacy, but I wonder what if inside a disabled iPhone was the password to block the explosion of an atomic bomb planted by terrorists in Rome, then what do we do? Do we let it explode?"

 

Apple exec's are probably scratching their heads of how to handle the delicate balance of moral and ethics for data privacy in the fallout of the high-profile debacle with FBI. As with more and more of people's life memories are being digitized in those omnipresent smart devices, many service providers and device vendors will find themselves in an uncanny position of arbiters for moral dilemmas, state regulations and essential privacy protections.

 

Source: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/03/father-begs-apple-ceo-to-help-unlock-his-dead-13-year-old-sons-iphone/

[terrytek]

i think they should unlock the phone because it contains personal data of memories that you can't recreate. there are probably meaning in all the photos in those phone, happy memories. i think they should unlock it.

[Enderman]

lol sure like a couple pics and inappropriate text messages are going to bring his son back

[Enderman]

7 minutes ago, Stardar1 said:

Still, if you lost a loved one, you would want those photos, those messages, all of it. 

 

And, as he technically is (was) the legal guardian, he legally has a right to the data in that phone. 

you dont get over something by hoarding memories and photos of the past

[dalekphalm]

16 minutes ago, terrytek said:

i think they should unlock the phone because it contains personal data of memories that you can't recreate. there are probably meaning in all the photos in those phone, happy memories. i think they should unlock it.

It's not that easy. It entirely depends on how the iPhone 6 was setup.

 

If the iPhone 6 had automatic backups enabled to iCloud, then Apple has no problem getting into the iCloud backup, and should be able to get the parent whatever pictures were stored on the phone.

 

However, if iCloud backups were disabled (It really depends on how many pictures the kid had as well, since iCloud only gives you so much free storage), then if encryption is enabled, I don't think there's anything Apple can do.

[ELSknutson]

Why didnt the dad just use his sons thumb to unlock the phone. I mean its not like he needs it any more.

[Tech_Dreamer]

i see what you did there

#AnotherOne #YouVerySmart

[LAwLz]

17 minutes ago, super_skank said:

For the record, Apple should unlock the phone, The images on the phone may help with the grieving process. 

Easy for you to say, but Apple can't actually unlock it. If the son did not make backups on for example his iCloud account, the family can't guess the PIN, and it has auto erase enabled then the data is gone forever. That's how proper encryption works. Data is unrecoverable without the password. Lose the password and you lose the data. There is nothing anyone can do about it, not even Apple. Apple even told him this when he called, but he will still "continue the battle".

The dad might as well be asking Apple to resurrect their son, and then get upset when Apple says they can't.

 

Also... They knew he had a deadly disease 2 years before he died, but they didn't think to write down his passwords? I know it's not the first thing you might think of... But they had 2 years to do it.

 

Other parents should learn from this. If you want to be able to access your child's devices then you need to learn their passwords before they die.

[Tech_Dreamer]

The scale is just too big , down to the ground it's all about how we make the decision on what's okay,  an 'emotional decision' defies 'logical decision making' outcome most of the time regardless if it's right or wrong, it's basically unbiased ethics, our view towards this varies depending on our "mood" aka state of mind , this why we see free people divided & confused most of the time , ironically both sides think the other one is wrong & both sides feel they're right the way they see things, logically the resolution is simple in a complex situation like this, it comes down to  the said majority holding up the ideology whether it's wrong or right, that's been the case since always

[PlayStation 2]

1 hour ago, Enderman said:

lol sure like a couple pics and inappropriate text messages are going to bring his son back

I know this forum's community is shit and all and we'll laugh at inappropriate jokes, but did you really think through what the fuck you were saying in the context of this thread.

[Zodiark1593]

For better or worse (cold as it sounds), the encryption is working as intended. I do not believe Apple should make a backdoor for any cases whatsoever.

 

That said, in the case of a child's phone, if the parents want the ability to access it, now or post mortum, then they should be the ones that set up the pin/password when it is given to the child. 

 

From a logical point of view, this is my stance.

[SansVarnic]

This is not a difficult dilemma to iron out here.

I do not know about France but in the US any property of a child under the age of 18 is considered the property of the parent, especially in cases when the child passes away the family is automatically granted all property of the child.

 

Apple does not face an ethical or moral decision. If the parent s are asking for the phone to be unlocked to extract personal pictures and other items from the phone then Apple should do so without any moral/ ethic backfire from anyone. 

 

This is an easy issue to resolve.

[Misanthrope]

Sure, the father's probably a fucking spook though.

[SansVarnic]

15 minutes ago, Zodiark1593 said:

For better or worse (cold as it sounds), the encryption is working as intended. I do not believe Apple should make a backdoor for any cases whatsoever.

 

That said, in the case of a child's phone, if the parents want the ability to access it, now or post mortum, then they should be the ones that set up the pin/password when it is given to the child. 

 

From a logical point of view, this is my stance.

This is not about making a back door such as what the FBI asked for. It simply put is unlocking the phone for the family of the child.

[Zodiark1593]

1 minute ago, SansVarnic said:

This is not about making a back door such as what the FBI asked for. It simply put is unlocking the phone for the family of the child.

From Apple's own words (under the assumption they speak the truth) they have no capability whatsoever to unlock the iPhone after it has been encrypted. If the password is lost (in this case, through death) then the phone is a brick until reset. Assuming no viable vulnerability, the father is essentially asking the impossible of Apple. 

 

Does it then fall unto Apple to attampt to extract the encrypted data then attempt to brute force it?

[Eroda]

2 hours ago, terrytek said:

i think they should unlock the phone because it contains personal data of memories that you can't recreate. there are probably meaning in all the photos in those phone, happy memories. i think they should unlock it.

 

yeah because then the next time the FBI asks apple cannot refuse them so easily

[Enderman]

1 hour ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

I know this forum's community is shit and all and we'll laugh at inappropriate jokes, but did you really think through what the fuck you were saying in the context of this thread.

nah just playing devils advocate

really funny how upset people get even though they have nothing to do with this, they are neither the father nor the dead son yet they think they are white knights or something

 

Kinda like how the media talks about some news that doesnt affect you at all and people get all angry or sad or upset or whatever as if it was happening to them

[PlayStation 2]

Just now, Enderman said:

nah just playing devils advocate

really funny how upset people get even though they have nothing to do with this, they are neither the father nor the dead son yet they think they are white knights or something

 

Kinda like how the media talks about some news that doesnt affect you at all and people get all angry or sad or upset or whatever as if it was happening to them

I mean it's okay to be the Devil's advocate but I've been in this situation.

[SansVarnic]

9 minutes ago, Zodiark1593 said:

From Apple's own words (under the assumption they speak the truth) they have no capability whatsoever to unlock the iPhone after it has been encrypted. If the password is lost (in this case, through death) then the phone is a brick until reset. Assuming no viable vulnerability, the father is essentially asking the impossible of Apple. 

 

Does it then fall unto Apple to attampt to extract the encrypted data then attempt to brute force it?

There is no need to brute force the phone. Apple designed the encryption they use and should be able to key it themselves. The fact that they say they cannot is wrong.

Now it is not as easy as flipping a switch as it would take sometime to do this of course. Not everything is full proof.

 

The thing is Apple wont admit to being able to do with how dicey this issue is right now with no direct laws or court decisions confirming the right to data privacy in place. So I see Apples position and understand it. I am just saying that Apple should attempt to unlock the phone as the phone is the parents property (that is if France law sees it that way <See my other reply> )

[Enderman]

3 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

I mean it's okay to be the Devil's advocate but I've been in this situation.

What? You mean you've died?

[PlayStation 2]

Just now, Enderman said:

What? You mean you've died?

Probably in the inside

Nah, my grandma died back in September 2010. We had eventually gotten an arseload of her shit.

[Enderman]

15 hours ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

Probably in the inside

Nah, my grandma died back in September 2010. We had eventually gotten an arseload of her shit.

mhm k well maybe you were really close to your grandmother or something, but I personally wouldnt search through some family member's personal emails or locked online accounts after they died...i mean they wouldnt want you to do it while they were alive, right? I know I dont...

 

15 hours ago, SansVarnic said:

-snip-

dude chill, its just a public forum, not a presidential meeting

Edited April 1, 2016 by Blade of Grass

[BuckGup]

Desolder the flash storage resolder it on another surrogate board and boom all the data you want 

[Beskamir]

2 hours ago, terrytek said:

i think they should unlock the phone because it contains personal data of memories that you can't recreate. there are probably meaning in all the photos in those phone, happy memories. i think they should unlock it.

That would set a precedent, as such I think they shouldn't unlock it. People should always consider and hopefully be prepared for the worst possible situation.

[mr195]

2 hours ago, ELSknutson said:

Why didnt the dad just use his sons thumb to unlock the phone. I mean its not like he needs it any more.

Holy shit dude lmfao. This has me rolling and I don't care if that makes me a bad person