Skip to main content

Apple, Google have been dealing with All Writs Act since 2008

FBI Director James Comey has said time and time again that the fight against Apple — which is far from over — to provide access into the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone has always been about just that one device.

“We simply want the chance, with a search warrant, to try to guess the terrorist’s passcode without the phone essentially self-destructing and without it taking a decade to guess correctly,” Comey wrote in a post on Lawfare. “That’s it. We don’t want to break anyone’s encryption or set a master key loose on the land.”

Recommended Videos

But that is a statement that has continually been disproved, and even Comey has said “of course” the FBI would use a legal precedent to its advantage, under oath to the House Judiciary Committee.

“That’s just the way the law works, which I happen to think is a good thing,” he said.

The American Civil Liberties Union just disclosed that the federal government has used the All Writs Act to order tech companies to unlock customer’s devices more than 63 times since 2008.

“We uncovered 63 confirmed cases in which the government applied for an order under the All Writs Act to compel Apple or Google to provide assistance in accessing data stored on a mobile device,” according to the ACLU’s post. “To the extent we know about the underlying facts, these cases predominantly arise out of investigations into drug crimes.”

The All Writs Act of  1789 allows the courts to issue orders that force third parties to comply with the government’s requests.

“We carefully scrutinize subpoenas and court orders to make sure they meet both the letter and spirit of the law.”

Most of the orders were directed to Apple, but nine of them had the government asking Google to reset passwords on specific devices.

“We carefully scrutinize subpoenas and court orders to make sure they meet both the letter and spirit of the law,” a Google spokesperson told Digital Trends. “However, we’ve never received an All Writs Act order like the one Apple recently fought that demands we build new tools that actively compromise our products’ security. … We would strongly object to such an order.”

It’s hard to tell in which cases the companies complied, but it looks as though Google, like Apple, has resisted in certain cases.

The ACLU has created an interactive map of the United States, showing each state where the government has used the All Writs Act, and it’s chock full of related court documents and case references, should you want to take a look.

Julian Chokkattu
Former Mobile and Wearables Editor
Julian is the mobile and wearables editor at Digital Trends, covering smartphones, fitness trackers, smartwatches, and more…
I tested Google Gemini and Apple Intelligence. Here’s which one you should use
Pixel Studio tools on a Pixel.

This year feels like a turning point for smartphones with all the new AI features being rolled out by Apple, Google, and basically every other tech company. I've been particularly intrigued by Apple Intelligence, which has introduced some promising new AI capabilities that will be rolled out to select devices over the coming months.

Google's Gemini AI system for the Pixel 9 Pro and other Android devices also shows promise and seems slightly further along than Apple's product. Both tools claim to make our lives easier and enhance our interaction with our devices when fully implemented.

Read more
Google’s dead Pixel Tablet 2 could have been a solid upgrade
The Google Pixel Tablet on its charging dock.

The fate of Google’s Pixel Tablet seems uncertain at this point, with multiple leaks suggesting that a successor was put on ice. It seems, however, that a Pixel Tablet 2 moved into advanced stages of development with some neat upgrades before it was unceremoniously axed.

The folks over at Android Authority, citing internal documents, report that the second-generation Pixel Tablet would’ve arrived armed with the Tensor G4 silicon, which also powers the Google Pixel 9 series smartphones. Google was also reportedly eyeing a cellular version with a Samsung Exynos 5G modem for the slate.

Read more
The Google Pixel 9 may not have the Android version you expected
Official teaser of the Google Pixel 9 Pro.

Google’s holding its next big event on August 13, where we expect to see the new Google Pixel 9 lineup, including the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and other goodies. But Google may end up doing something very odd, considering the timing of the event. The Pixel 9 series may not ship with Android 15, breaking a longstanding tradition.

In the past several years, Google has always launched the newest Pixel phone with the newest version of Android, which only makes sense considering Google creates both the hardware and software. In 2021, the Pixel 6 series launched with Android 12. Then, the Pixel 7 launched with Android 13, and last year, the Pixel 8 launched with Android 14.

Read more