Court says the FBI doesn't have to reveal the cost of hacking the San Bernardino iPhone
You know how super-expensive restaurants don't always put prices on their menus?
I'm not saying the FBI paid an enormous sum to access a phone used by one of the perpetrators of the 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California. But I am saying that the FBI just won a court battle for the right not to tell the public how much the job cost. According to the courts, the agency doesn't have to mention the company it paid to unlock the phone, either.
The Associated Press, Vice, and USA Today went to court to try to pry the information out of the FBI, but a judge recently ruled that the firm's name and the price paid are national security secrets and techniques exempted from Freedom of Information Act requests.
The FBI initially went to court with Apple to try to force the company to unlock the phone, saying agents needed it to complete a thorough investigation. Apple stood its ground, arguing that unlocking the phone would undermine consumer trust in their products. So, the FBI found another way in, turning to a private firm to do the job.
Former FBI Director James Comey has implied that the agency paid well over $1 million for the job, while Sen. Dianne Feinstein said the agency coughed up $900,000.
Topics Politics
Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.
