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Apple's case against the FBI is not just about one phone or one suspect, but rather an issue of user privacy, Cue said. (Photo: Mariah Dietzler/flickr/cc)
Apple Warns FBI Could Make Them Turn On iPhone Cameras and Microphones Next
'When they can get us to create a new system to do new things, where will it stop?'
Mar 10, 2016
If the FBI successfully manages to force Apple to unlock the suspected San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, the government could use the precedent to require the tech company to remotely turn on users' iPhone microphones and cameras, Apple's senior vice president warned this week.
Eddy Cue, speaking to Univision in a Spanish-language interview, reiterated Apple's argument that its case against the FBI is not just about one phone or one suspect, but rather an issue of user privacy.
"When they can get us to create a new system to do new things, where will it stop?" Cue said, according to a translation provided to Business Insider. "For example, one day [the FBI] may want us to open your phone's camera or microphone. Those are things we can't do now. But if they can force us to do that, I think that's very bad."
"Where will this stop?" Cue continued. "In a divorce case? In an immigration case? In a tax case? Some day, someone will be able to turn on a phone's microphone. That should not happen in this country."
The interview comes as the FBI continues its efforts to compel Apple to create new software that would enable the agency to break into the encrypted iPhone of suspected San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook, which Apple has refused to do on privacy grounds.
Cue noted that the tech company has not resisted helping the FBI altogether, and continues to give the government "all the data we have."
"In this case, the problem is that they want us to give the one thing that we do not have," he said. "What they want is for us to provide a key to the backdoor of your house, but we do not have the key. Since we don't have the key, they want us to change the lock. When we change the latchkey, it changes for everyone. And we then have a key capable of opening all phones. And that key, once it exists, exists not only for us. Terrorists, criminals, pirates, they too will be able to find and use that key to open all phones."
Apple has picked up support throughout the tech industry, as well as from privacy advocates and users. On Wednesday, whistleblower Edward Snowden said during a democracy conference that the FBI's claim that it can't unlock Farook's iPhone without Apple's help, "respectfully, [is] bullshit."
The United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein also said last week that forcing Apple to create decryption software could unlock "a Pandora's Box that could have extremely damaging implications for the human rights of many millions of people, including their physical and financial security."
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Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
If the FBI successfully manages to force Apple to unlock the suspected San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, the government could use the precedent to require the tech company to remotely turn on users' iPhone microphones and cameras, Apple's senior vice president warned this week.
Eddy Cue, speaking to Univision in a Spanish-language interview, reiterated Apple's argument that its case against the FBI is not just about one phone or one suspect, but rather an issue of user privacy.
"When they can get us to create a new system to do new things, where will it stop?" Cue said, according to a translation provided to Business Insider. "For example, one day [the FBI] may want us to open your phone's camera or microphone. Those are things we can't do now. But if they can force us to do that, I think that's very bad."
"Where will this stop?" Cue continued. "In a divorce case? In an immigration case? In a tax case? Some day, someone will be able to turn on a phone's microphone. That should not happen in this country."
The interview comes as the FBI continues its efforts to compel Apple to create new software that would enable the agency to break into the encrypted iPhone of suspected San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook, which Apple has refused to do on privacy grounds.
Cue noted that the tech company has not resisted helping the FBI altogether, and continues to give the government "all the data we have."
"In this case, the problem is that they want us to give the one thing that we do not have," he said. "What they want is for us to provide a key to the backdoor of your house, but we do not have the key. Since we don't have the key, they want us to change the lock. When we change the latchkey, it changes for everyone. And we then have a key capable of opening all phones. And that key, once it exists, exists not only for us. Terrorists, criminals, pirates, they too will be able to find and use that key to open all phones."
Apple has picked up support throughout the tech industry, as well as from privacy advocates and users. On Wednesday, whistleblower Edward Snowden said during a democracy conference that the FBI's claim that it can't unlock Farook's iPhone without Apple's help, "respectfully, [is] bullshit."
The United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein also said last week that forcing Apple to create decryption software could unlock "a Pandora's Box that could have extremely damaging implications for the human rights of many millions of people, including their physical and financial security."
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
If the FBI successfully manages to force Apple to unlock the suspected San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, the government could use the precedent to require the tech company to remotely turn on users' iPhone microphones and cameras, Apple's senior vice president warned this week.
Eddy Cue, speaking to Univision in a Spanish-language interview, reiterated Apple's argument that its case against the FBI is not just about one phone or one suspect, but rather an issue of user privacy.
"When they can get us to create a new system to do new things, where will it stop?" Cue said, according to a translation provided to Business Insider. "For example, one day [the FBI] may want us to open your phone's camera or microphone. Those are things we can't do now. But if they can force us to do that, I think that's very bad."
"Where will this stop?" Cue continued. "In a divorce case? In an immigration case? In a tax case? Some day, someone will be able to turn on a phone's microphone. That should not happen in this country."
The interview comes as the FBI continues its efforts to compel Apple to create new software that would enable the agency to break into the encrypted iPhone of suspected San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook, which Apple has refused to do on privacy grounds.
Cue noted that the tech company has not resisted helping the FBI altogether, and continues to give the government "all the data we have."
"In this case, the problem is that they want us to give the one thing that we do not have," he said. "What they want is for us to provide a key to the backdoor of your house, but we do not have the key. Since we don't have the key, they want us to change the lock. When we change the latchkey, it changes for everyone. And we then have a key capable of opening all phones. And that key, once it exists, exists not only for us. Terrorists, criminals, pirates, they too will be able to find and use that key to open all phones."
Apple has picked up support throughout the tech industry, as well as from privacy advocates and users. On Wednesday, whistleblower Edward Snowden said during a democracy conference that the FBI's claim that it can't unlock Farook's iPhone without Apple's help, "respectfully, [is] bullshit."
The United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein also said last week that forcing Apple to create decryption software could unlock "a Pandora's Box that could have extremely damaging implications for the human rights of many millions of people, including their physical and financial security."
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Rail Labor Leaders Raise Alarm Over Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern Megamerger
"Our labor organization has every intention to oppose this merger," said SMART-TD, America's largest railroad operating union.
Jul 29, 2025
Major unions on Tuesday slammed plans for an $85 billion merger between railway giants Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific.
As The New York Times reported, the proposed merger would have the benefit of creating the first rail network in the U.S. that would span from coast to coast and would run through 43 different states by linking Norfolk Southern's eastern railroads with Union Pacific's western rail network.
On the downside, however, it would represent a massive consolidation of the American rail industry by giving one corporation control of roughly 40% of rail freight throughout the U.S., and it was immediately panned by labor leaders as bad for railway workers.
SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD), America's largest railroad operating union, said that "our labor organization has every intention to oppose this merger when it comes before the Surface Transportation Board for approval."
The union specified multiple concerns about the deal, including what it described as Union Pacific's "troubling safety record" under its current management.
"Publicly available data from recent years reveals [Union Pacific] leads the industry in accidents, incidents, injuries, and fatalities," the union said. "This trend reflects a broader corporate culture that, in our view, prioritizes aggressive operating ratios over worker and public safety."
SMART-TD also criticized Union Pacific for having "a pattern of disengagement and hostility" toward labor relations, while also expressing concerns that Norfolk Southern, which it describes as having "more progressive labor and operation policies," could adopt Union Pacific's tactics under a merger.
The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) raised similar concerns about worker safety and laid out a list of demands that would have to be met before it would give the merger its blessing. Namely, the union said that "safety standards must be strengthened not sidelined, in the name of efficiency," and that "signal staffing must not be cut further." BRS also demanded "direct labor consultation during all phases of integration" and "enforceable safety guarantees and transparency in operational changes."
With 60,000+ Dead, US Public Support for Israel's Annihilation of Gaza Hits New Low
Just 32% of respondents—including only 8% of Democrats—said they backed Israel in a new Gallup poll.
Jul 29, 2025
As the Palestinian death toll from Israel's obliteration of Gaza officially topped 60,000—likely a significant undercount—a Gallup poll released Tuesday revealed that U.S. public support for Israel's war on the Palestinian enclave plummeted to an all-time low, even before the widespread publication of horrifying images of Gazan children dying of starvation.
According to the Gallup survey of 1,002 U.S. adults conducted between July 7-21, 32% of overall respondents said they approve of Israel's war on Gaza launched in response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack. That's down from 42% in September 2024 and 50% in October 2023.
Conversely, 60% of overall respondents now disapprove of Israel's war, which is the subject of an ongoing International Court of Justice genocide case filed by South Africa. That's up from 48% disapproval last September and 45% in October 2023.
Those polled were sharply divided along partisan lines. Republican respondents were the only group whose support for Israel's war increased, with 71% approving in the new poll, up from 66% in September 2024 and matching the 71% approval rating in October 2023.f
Among Independents, only 25% said they approved of the war, down from 41% in September 2024 and 47% in October 2023.
Democratic approval of Israel's war dipped into the single digits for the first time, with just 8% supporting the action. That's a precipitous plunge from Democrats' 24% approval in September 2024 and 36% in October 2023.
For the first time in Gallup's survey, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's overall approval among Americans dipped into negative territory, with 52% of respondents viewing him unfavorably. Just 29% of respondents said they had a favorable view of Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza including murder and forced starvation.
The new Gallup poll was published on the same day that the Gaza Health Ministry said the death toll in the Palestinian enclave topped 60,000 amid relentless Israeli bombing, daily attacks on aid-seekers, and a worsening starvation crisis. Most of those killed have been women and children. The ministry said at least 147 Palestinians—88 of them children—have died of severe malnutrition since October 2023.
At least 145,870 Palestinians have also been wounded, and approximately 14,000 others are missing and presumed dead and buried beneath rubble.
Multiple peer-reviewed studies in the esteemed British medical journal The Lancet have concluded that Gaza Health Ministry casualty figures are likely a vast undercount.
A separate poll of New York City Democratic primary voters published Tuesday by Data for Progress and the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project for Semafor found that 78% believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, 79% want the U.S. to restrict arms transfers to Israel, and 63% say that the next mayor of New York City should enforce the ICC warrant for Netanyahu's arrest.
The poll revealed that a +42-point net favorability rating for New York City Democratic mayoral nominee and Palestine defender Zohran Mamdani, -12-point net favorability for Independent challenger Andrew Cuomo, and -62-point net favorability for Eric Adams, who is also running independently.
Fridays for Future Plans Global Climate Strike During COP30 in Brazil
"A just transition is not a luxury or a campaign to be used for greenwashing; it's a matter of survival and securing our future," said a movement member in the host country.
Jul 29, 2025
The Fridays for Future movement announced this week that it is planning the next Global Climate Strike for November 14, the first Friday during the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil.
The movement began in 2018, with then-teenage Greta Thunberg's solo protest at the Swedish parliament, which inspired millions of people to hold similar school strikes for climate action around the world.
The U.N. summit, COP30, is set to run from November 10-21. Brazil's website for the conference states that "the main challenges include aligning the commitments of developed and developing countries in relation to climate finance, ensuring that emission reduction targets are compatible with climate science, and dealing with the socio-economic impacts of climate change on vulnerable populations."
On November 14, "under the banner #JustTransitionNow, young people around the world will mobilize to demand urgent, justice-centered action to phase out fossil fuels and build a sustainable future for all," according to a Monday statement from Fridays for Future.
"Global leaders must stop listening to fossil fuel lobbyists... It's time they start listening to science, to young people, and to traditional communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis."
According to the movement, the upcoming global strike will highlight the urgent need to:
- Accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuels: End the financing and expansion of coal, oil, and gas projects.
- Massively invest in renewable energy: Call for a significant increase in clean, affordable energy for all.
- Ensure a just transition for workers and communities: Safeguard livelihoods and promote social justice in the shift to a green economy.
- Advance climate justice for the Global South: Demand reparations and financial support for developing countries disproportionately affected by the climate crisis.
"Global leaders must stop listening to fossil fuel lobbyists or seeking alliances with groups like OPEC+," said Daniel Holanda of Fridays for Future Brazil, referring to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other leading oil exporters.
"It's time they start listening to science, to young people, and to traditional communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis," Holanda added. "A just transition is not a luxury or a campaign to be used for greenwashing; it's a matter of survival and securing our future."
The movement's announcement of the next strike follows last week's landmark advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ)—the U.N.'s primary judicial organ—that countries have a legal obligation to take cooperative action against the "urgent and existential threat" of human-caused planetary heating.
"We now have a common foundation based on the rule of law, releasing us from the limitations of individual nations' political interests that have dominated climate action," said Ralph Regenvanu, a minister in Vanuatu, which introduced the U.N. General Assembly resolution that led to the opinion. "This moment will drive stronger action and accountability to protect our planet and peoples."
Plans for the strike also come as U.S. President Donald Trump's administration and congressional Republicans work to undo the limited progress that the United States has made in terms of taking accountability for being the biggest historical contributor to climate pollution.
In addition to the United States ditching the Paris agreement, again, Trump's return to power has meant the elimination of the State Department's Office of Global Change. The latter move, CNN reported Tuesday, "leaves the world's largest historical polluter with no official presence" at COP30.
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