Major US news outlets sue FBI

By Barry Eitel

SAN FRANCISCO (AA) – The Associated Press, Vice Media and Gannett filed a lawsuit Friday against the FBI to force it to reveal the methods it used to breach an iPhone that belonged to an alleged U.S. terror suspect.

The news organizations claim the FBI does not have a right to conceal its methods about how it infiltrated the iPhone used by Syed Farook, one of the alleged shooters in the deadly terrorist attack last December in San Bernardino, California that killed 14 victims.

Earlier this year, the FBI was locked in a legal battle with Apple over whether the company should be compelled to decrypt Farook’s iPhone. Soon before an official judgement was reached, and as public opinion appeared to be turning in Apple’s favor, the FBI announced that it had found a way to hack into the iPhone without Apple’s assistance.

It is this method that the AP, Vice and Gannett -- the parent company of news outlet USA Today and dozens of local newspapers -- wish to uncover.

"Understanding the amount that the FBI deemed appropriate to spend on the tool, as well as the identity and reputation of the vendor it did business with, is essential for the public to provide effective oversight of government functions and help guard against potential improprieties," according to the suit.

The news outlets also contend that Apple customers deserve to know about the method used by the FBI, since it likely means all iPhones are vulnerable.

"The FBI's purchase of the technology — and its subsequent verification that it had successfully obtained the data it was seeking thanks to that technology — confirmed that a serious undisclosed security vulnerability existed (and likely still exists) in one of the most popular consumer products in the world,” the suit claimed.

The FBI has not commented on the suit.