Government no longer needs Apple's help in NY drug case


A drug case in New York has risen to become a second high profile tangle between Apple and the U.S. FBI/DOJ. This New York case predates the San Bernardino case.

The DOJ Friday withdrew its request to compile Apple to comply with a warrant to assist in unlocking an iPhone. The government gained access to the device using a code provided by someone who apparently knew the code.

Ars Technica:

In a statement issued Friday night, Emily Pierce, a Department of Justice spokesman, reiterated the government's claim that such cases "have never been about setting a court precedent."

"In this case, an individual provided the department with the passcode to the locked phone at issue in the Eastern District of New York," she wrote. "Because we now have access to the data we sought, we notified the court of this recent development and have withdrawn our request for assistance. This is an ongoing investigation and therefore we are not revealing the identity of the individual."