Apple says it didn't know Trump's DOJ was asking for Democrats' data when it complied with subpoena [View all]

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: CNBC

TECH

Apple says it didn’t know Trump’s DOJ was asking for Democrats’ data when it complied with subpoena

PUBLISHED FRI, JUN 11 20217:38 PM EDT

Steve Kovach
@STEVEKOVACH https://twitter.com/stevekovach

KEY POINTS
-- Apple on Friday said it didn’t know former President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice was subpoenaed data on Democrats when it complied with the request.
-- Apple said it was under a gag order not to disclose the subpoena to the affected parties.
-- Microsoft also acknowledged it received a similar subpoena.


Apple said Friday it didn’t know former President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice was asking for the metadata of Democratic lawmakers when it complied with a subpoena seeking the information. ... Apple’s admission that it complied with the DOJ’s request demonstrates the thorny position tech companies are placed in when forced to balance their customers’ private online activity with legitimate requests from law enforcement. In general, companies like Apple challenge such requests, but in this case a grand jury and federal judge forced Apple to comply and keep it quiet. (1)

The admission follows a Thursday New York Times report that Trump’s DOJ seized at least a dozen records from people close to the House intelligence panel related to news reports on the former president’s contacts with Russia. At the time, the DOJ was looking for records from House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and committee member Eric Swalwell, D-Calif. (2)

Apple said it received a subpoena from a federal grand jury on Feb. 6, 2018. According to Apple, the subpoena requested data that belonged to a seemingly random group of email addresses and phone numbers. Apple said it provided the identifiers it had for some of the requests from the DOJ, but not all of the requests were for Apple customers.

Because of a nondisclosure order signed by a federal magistrate judge, Apple could not notify the people that their data was subpoenaed. The so-called gag order lifted on May 5, which is why Apple only recently alerted the affected users. According to Apple, the subpoena did not provide details on the nature of the investigation. ... Apple spokesperson Fred Sainz said in a statement that the company did not and could not have known who was being targeted by the request. .

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(1) https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/11/schiff-calls-for-probe-into-trump-doj-seizing-house-democrats-data-.html

(2) https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/10/us/politics/justice-department-leaks-trump-administration.html

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/11/apple-says-it-didnt-know-trumps-doj-was-asking-for-democrats-data.html