FBI doesn't have to say who unlocked San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, judge rules

The FBI does not have to reveal the identity of a vendor that helped it unlock the iPhone of one of the shooters in the 2015 San Bernardino terror attack, or the price it paid for the vendor’s services, a federal judge ruled.

In summary judgment issued Sept 30, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan in the District of Columbia wrote that the FBI had shown that releasing the vendor’s name “could be reasonably expected to cause harm to national security interests by limiting the FBI’s present and future ability to gain access to suspected terrorists’ phones.” She also wrote that disclosure of the vendor’s identity would “risk disclosure of a law enforcement technique and create a reasonably expected risk of circumvention of the law.” The judge also ruled that releasing the amount paid could also cause a “reasonably expected risk of harm to national security,” as the price could “logically reveal how much the FBI values gaining access to suspects’ phones, and the breadth of the tool’s capabilities.” The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed last year by three news organizations under the Freedom of Information Act.