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THE NEWS THIS <\/span>week that a magistrate ordered Apple to help the FBI hack an iPhone<\/a> used by one of the San Bernardino shooter suspects has polarized the nation\u2014and also generated some misinformation.<\/p>\n Those who support the government say Apple has cooperated in the past to unlock dozens of phones in other cases<\/a>\u2014so why can\u2019t it help the FBI unlock this one?<\/p>\n But this isn\u2019t about unlocking a phone; rather, it\u2019s about ordering Apple to create a new software tool to eliminate specific security protections the company built into its phone software to protect customer data. Opponents of the court\u2019s decision say this is no different than the controversial backdoor the FBI has been trying to force Apple and other companies to build into their software\u2014except in this case, it\u2019s an after-market backdoor to be used selectively on phones the government is investigating.<\/p>\n The stakes in the case are high because it draws a target on Apple and other companies embroiled in the ongoing encryption\/backdoor debate<\/a> that has been swirling in Silicon Valley and on Capitol Hill for the last two years. Briefly, the government wants a way to access data on gadgets, even when those devices use secure encryption to keep it private.<\/p>\n Apple specifically altered its software in 2014 to ensure that it would not be able to unlock customer phones and decrypt any of the most important data on them; but it turns out it overlooked a loophole in doing this that the government is now trying to exploit. The loophole is not about Apple unlocking the phone but about making it easier for the FBI to attempt to unlock it on its own. If the controversy over the San Bernardino phone causes Apple to take further steps to close that loophole so that it can\u2019t assist the FBI in this way in the future, it could be seen as excessive obstinance and obstruction by Capitol Hill. And that could be the thing that causes lawmakers to finally step in<\/a> with federal legislation that prevents Apple and other companies from locking the government out of devices.<\/p>\n If the FBI is successful in forcing Apple to comply with its request, it would also set a precedent for other countries to follow and ask Apple to provide their authorities with the same software tool.<\/p>\n