Google’s Geofencing Stance: an Ode to Apple in 2016
By Michael Mellon
In 2016 Apple faced off with the federal government, who had obtained an order to compel Apple to create software which would allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) to unlock a cellphone used by a suspected terrorist.[1] The software was needed because Apple had recently redesigned its operating system, making it impossible for anyone to access information stored on one of their devices.[2] The government maintained that the All Writs Act justified the compulsion because it “empower[s] judges to order that something be done, even if the legislative body (here, Congress) hasn’t officially said that it should be.”[3] It further relied on a test established in United States v. New York Telephone Co. concerning the same.[4] Apple was prepared to challenge this, but the issue became moot when the United States Attorney’s Office indicated it had found another means of entry into the phone.[5] This situation may very well have been the inspiration for Google’s recent stance related to mobile devices.
