Tim Cook: FBI is asking to set a precedent that is ‘bad for America’

Apple CEO Tim Cook is making his vitrine on internal TV .

On Wednesday , Cookgave an interview with ABC Newsexplaining his rationale fordefying the FBI ’s requestto make a special software to enter the iPhone belonging to the San Bernardino gunman .

“ I consider base hit of the public is incredibly important — safety of our child , safe of our family line is very important , ” Cook severalize ABC News anchorman David Muir . “ The aegis of mass ’s information is incredibly of import , and so the trade - off here is we know that doing this could expose hoi polloi to unbelievable vulnerabilities . ”

The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice have issued orders oblige Apple to make a hackable version of iOS that can be install on iPhones to go around authoritative security system measure .

“ The only way to get selective information … would be to compose a piece of software that we view as sort of the equivalent of cancer . We think it ’s bad news to write . We would never spell it . We have never write it — and that is what is at stake here , ” Apple ’s chief operating officer enounce . “ We believe that is a very severe operating system . ”

Cook also argued that creating this software will give authorization the power to unlock more iPhones , and would basically turn Apple into an arm of law of nature enforcement . ABC News reportedthat Apple has get ( and contested ) 15 court orders to extract data from an iPhone in just the last five month .

“ This [ professional key ] is not something we would create , ” Cook state . “ This would be defective for America . It would also set a precedent that I believe many people in America would be wound by . ”

“ If a court can ask us to write this part of software system , guess about what else they could demand us to save — mayhap it ’s an operating system for surveillance , maybe the power for the natural law enforcement to turn on the tv camera , ” the CEO continued . “ I do n’t know where this stops . But I do know that this is not what should be happening in this country . ”

Cook tell ABC News that the Justice file compelling Apple to aid the FBI was unexpected , and that he wished there had been more dialogue and communication from the Obama administration before repair to that case of action .

“ We found out about the filing from the press , ” Cook said . “ And I do n’t think that ’s the style the railway system should be run . And I do n’t opine that something so authoritative to this country should be handled in this agency . ”

Cook revealed that he had not spoken to President Obama yet to handle this issue , but that he is planning to .

The story behind the tarradiddle : Cook ’s interview follows a recent Pew sight , establish that   most Americans take issue with Apple ’s refusal of the FBI ’s request , prioritizing national security over polite right to privacy . fit in toBloomberg , Apple is planning to de jure argue in the courts that its software is protected speech and the government can not compel the companionship to make up speech that depart against its beliefs .

Updated : Tim Cook ’s full interview with ABC News is below .