Apple to unveil new portal to help law enforcement submit requests for customer data

An Apple store in New York

The tech press this week will be consumed by the new iPhones, AirPods and smartwatches Apple plans to unveil on Wednesday.  

But flashy new devices aren’t the only things the tech giant has been working on: Apple is also going to unveil a new portal this year designed to make it easier for law enforcement to submit and track requests for its customers’ data during investigations.

According to a letter the company sent to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) obtained by The Washington Post, Apple will also form a dedicated team to train law enforcement on digital evidence, while also offering online training for investigators about how to submit their requests. 

“As more data ends up online and on our devices, we have to come up with new, smart ways for tech companies and law enforcement to unlock information that can solve crimes,” Whitehouse said in a statement. Whitehouse also said he was glad to see Apple launch the portal.

Since Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal this past spring, much of the privacy debate is focused on the technology companies’ data practices — a shift from five years ago, when the Edward Snowden revelations put the spotlight on government agencies’ handling of citizens’ data.

In the five years since the Snowden documents were published, Apple has positioned itself as an advocate for user privacy — even in the face of legal challenges from law enforcement. The company has fought back against the FBI’s demands it create a way around its encryption even when agents have a warrant,  saying any kind of “back door” into otherwise secure products would compromise the safety and privacy of all its consumers. 

This latest plan appears to be a rare olive branch to the law enforcement community. Apple seems to be trying to rewrite the common narrative that it is at odds with investigators by focusing lawmakers’ attention on the data it does share with them. 

Apple’s letter to Whitehouse, which was first reported by the technology news publication CNET, comes in the wake of a report issued by the think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies earlier this summer. The report found law enforcement’s day-to-day struggles with accessing digital evidence are much more mundane than the FBI’s fiery clashes with Apple. Often, the report found, law enforcement agents don’t know what data service provider to go to when they need information. Even when they do, the process for getting it is not clear-cut.

Previously, Apple required U.S.-based investigators to submit their requests via email. The portal will digitize that process and allow law enforcement officials to see the status of their request.

Jennifer Daskal, an author of the CSIS report on digital evidence, said from Apple’s perspective, the portal highlights how there are other means besides mandated access to encryption through which law enforcement can access evidence.

“Presumably this takes some of the pressure off of the encryption debate,” she said.

Many other technology companies are also stepping up their resources for law enforcement. Other technology companies such as Facebook and Google also have an online portal for law enforcement to submit requests and a team dedicated to helping them with digital evidence. Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

These new initiatives could also make it easier for the companies, too. Technology companies are routinely flooded with requests from law enforcement. In the second half of 2017, Apple received 29,718 device requests. Daskal said it’s difficult for these companies to do training when they’re dealing with law enforcement at the local and state level, across many different geographies. She said “a single point of contact” is needed, and her report recommended that Congress authorize and fund a “National Digital Evidence Office” in the government that would be charged with developing a national policy on digital evidence.

As law enforcement grapples with many new kinds of digital evidence, pressure is growing on Congress to find ways to make it easier for them to make data requests. With the advent of Internet-of-Things devices — in cities and in people’s homes — “there’s this whole ocean of new types of digital evidence law enforcement is being flooded with,” said Tommy Ross, BSA senior director of policy.

BSA members are engaged in discussions on how to improve law enforcement’s access to digital evidence without leading to policies that might undermine privacy considerations. The group has had conversations with lawmakers about some of the CSIS report recommendations, said Ross, including proposals for centralized organizations responsible for facilitating data requests and training law enforcement.

Because law enforcement at different levels and in different geographies have varied resources and forensic capabilities, Ross said the group is calling for an intensive congressional review of the current landscape of law enforcement training and capabilities.