Apple Hires Former Solicitor General, Who Lost Wife in 9/11, to Defend It Against FBI

by Mike Masnick
Techdirt
Feb. 23, 2016

Two can play at the "pull on the heart strings about losses due to terror" game apparently. While the FBI has rolled out the "but the poor victims of San Bernardino" argument for why it wants to force Apple into hacking the security of its own customers, Apple has countered with a big gun of its own: it has hired former Solicitor General Ted Olson to defend the company against the FBI in this case. Olson is a mega-star in legal circles. He's argued tons of cases before the Supreme Court, and of course, was Solicitor General under George W. Bush (whose election he helped ensure in representing him in Bush v. Gore).

But... he's also well known because his wife, Barbara Olson, was onboard American Airlines Flight 77 that was one of the four hijacked planes during 9/11 (it was the one that crashed into the Pentagon). I'm sure that Apple hired Olson because of his legal and litigation skills. He's obviously extremely qualified for the job. But the fact that he also presents a sympathetic narrative concerning victims of terrorist attacks seems like an added bonus in a bizarre fight that seems to focus almost as much on the public perception of parading victims around, as it does around the actual legal issues.

Olson already has been out in public arguing on behalf of Apple. I'd embed the video from ABC but (irony alert) they don't use HTTPS encryption, so I can't... However, Olson does note:

Apple has a responsibility to maintain the trust and faith of millions of people who have depended on Apple to produce a product that protects their privacy and their intimate personal lives. This is a Pandora's box. We're not just talking about one magistrate. There are hundreds of magistrates. There are hundreds of other courts. There's no limit to what the government could require Apple to do if it succeeds this way....

[....]

This is not just one magistrate in San Bernardino. There are judges all over this country, and we're talking about foreign governments. People in foreign countries are going to be very, very susceptible to invasion of their privacy if Apple can be forced to change its iPhone.

[....]

Congress has decided not to enter into this area and not to require Apple to do, essentially, what is very difficult to do, and would require Apple to comply with these kinds of court orders all over the country and other parts of the world, damaging your personal privacy, your financial privacy, your health records, your location, and where your children are. The implications of this are quite serious.

... And remember, terrorists seek to change our lives. They wish to take away our civil liberties. We can't surrender our civil liberties and give the terrorists victory that they actually seek.

He may be overstating the case, in that things like location information aren't at stake here, but a lot of the other stuff is -- and he's right that we shouldn't be compromising our civil liberties in response to terrorist attacks.