Apple announced Wednesday that it will no longer allow companies to hand data from customers' iPhones and iPads to police, even if the cops have a search warrant.
The decision was announced while the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant introduced new privacy features and its new iOS 8 mobile operation system, according to The Huffington Post. The move also comes at a time when tech companies face criticism about handing over too much user data to the government.
Apple is offering tips on a new privacy site for ways users can manage their privacy with the new features. The company also explains how it will respond to requests from the government for data. It said that with a passcode, users will be able to protect their contacts, emails, call history, iTunes content, notes, and reminders.
"Unlike our competitors, Apple cannot bypass your passcode and therefore cannot access this data," Apple said. "So it's not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants for the extraction of this data from devices in their possession running iOS 8."
However, Apple will still have to hand over such data from other services like iCloud, The Washington Post reported.
The new policy is receiving responses from both sides of the privacy argument, with Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist for the American Civil Liberties Union calling it a "great move."
"Particularly after the Snowdon disclosures, Apple seems to understand that consumers want companies to put their privacy first," he added. "However, I suspect there are going to be a lot of unhappy law enforcement officials."
On the other hand, Ronald T. Hosko, former head of the criminal investigative division of the FBI, said Apple's decision is "problematic" and will make it even harder for law enforcement to find evidence for solving and preventing crimes, The Washington Post reported.
"Our ability to act on data that does exist ... is critical to our success," Hosko said, adding that it will take a terrorist attack or other major event to give the ability to access huge amounts of data back to authorities.
In response to criticism over handing over information, Apple said it doesn't have a "backdoor" for authorities to access user data and never has, The Huffington Post reported.
"In the first six months of 2014, we received 250 or fewer of these requests," the company said.
Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a message on the site that the company will handle privacy in a more transparent way. He added that customers will get updates on the company's privacy policies at least once a year, and that they will not have to sacrifice privacy to have a great customer experience.
"Our business model is very straightforward: We sell great products," Cook wrote. "We don't build a profile based on your email content or web browsing habits to sell to advertisers. We don't 'monetize' the information you store on your iPhone or in iCloud. And we don't read your email or your messages to get information to market to you. Our software and services are designed to make our devices better. Plain and simple."
