Did Apple Win Or Lose In A Showdown With The FBI?

 The question I pose today is this: Is it Good or Bad for Apple, now that the Justice Department is withdrawing its court case seeking Apple’s help to unlock a terrorist’s iPhone?

 You no doubt have heard that an iPhone was used by one of the San Bernardino shooters and in its investigation of the deadly attack, the FBI was unable to unlock it without risking losing all the data it contained.

Justin Sullivan

Apple said it couldn’t unlock it and then said it wouldn’t unlock it so the FBI said it would take them to court.   But just before the legal showdown the FBI backed down saying they were getting help from an outside source.

We have no official word on who the feds got to help but an Israeli mobile software developer, called Cellebrite, said they'd agreed to help the FBI, and had a signed contract for $15-grand to attempt the unlock.

It apparently worked because a Justice Department spokesperson says the FBI successfully retrieved the data, no longer needs Apple’s help and is reviewing the information on the phone.

So the issues are these:  Apple held out and said it couldn’t be done. Did they lie to the government about a process that could possibly help in the fight against terrorism? Does that help Apples brand with consumers or discredit them as choosing greed over country.  And what about the fact that an outside company did manage to hack in?  Does that expose Apple’s lie to security conscious consumers about the impregnability of the iPhone?  So was the episode good or bad for Apple?