Microsoft just broke ranks with Big Tech's encryption defense. The company quietly handed over BitLocker recovery keys to the FBI under warrant last year, marking a sharp departure from the united front tech giants formed when Apple refused to unlock the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone in 2016. According to court documents obtained by Forbes, the keys unlocked encrypted data on three laptops tied to a COVID unemployment fraud investigation in Guam. Privacy advocates are now warning this sets a dangerous precedent for government access to user data.
Microsoft just handed the FBI the keys to customer data, and the privacy world is reeling. The Redmond giant confirmed it provided BitLocker recovery keys to federal agents under warrant last year, a quiet reversal that puts it at odds with the encryption principles Big Tech publicly championed less than a decade ago.
The FBI approached Microsoft with a warrant demanding access to encrypted data stored on three laptops connected to an investigation into potential COVID unemployment assistance fraud in Guam, according to court documents reviewed by Forbes. Unlike the standoff that defined the industry in 2016, Microsoft complied without apparent resistance.
That's a striking shift from the united front tech companies formed when Apple refused to help the FBI access an iPhone used by the San Bernardino shooters. Back then, CEO Tim Cook framed it as a matter of principle, telling customers that creating a backdoor would undermine security for everyone. Google CEO Sundar Pichai sided with Apple, as did (then Facebook), which Cook's position. Microsoft joined the chorus too, though its support was than others.
