India to buy technology used by FBI to unlock San Bernardino iPhone

NEW DELHI: It was an Israel-based forensics company, Cellebrite that helped the FBI in the San Bernardino shooting case after Apple refused to provide access to the suspect’s iPhone 5C on the grounds of violation of consumer privacy. Apparently, India wants some of this technology.

According to an Economics Times report, India’s Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) is in talks with Cellebrite to buy the technology that will allow it to unlock iPhones and other devices on its own.

According to FSL, “India will be a global hub for cases where law enforcement is unable to break into phones,”i.e the Indian government will also be helping other countries in cracking encrypted devices.

The report further adds that the Indian government has already enlisted help from Cellebrite in “a few cases,” but now it will have the encryption cracking tech on hand to use as needed.

Notably, there is little clarity on the ownership of technology as of now. Besides the legality involved, the circumstances under which India will help other countries with the technology are also unclear.

Though the deal isn’t yet completed but FSL officials look confident that the government will complete the purchase soon. There’s no word on how much the transaction will cost, but the FBI paid Cellebrite over $1 million for its services in the San Bernardino case.