By Ron Bell, General Counsel

Today Yahoo joins Apple and many others across the technology industry and the security community to argue against the U.S. government’s efforts to conscript a company’s own engineers to undermine its products’ data security features.

Let’s be clear about what’s at stake.

This case isn’t simply about letting the FBI pick the lock to a dead terrorist’s phone. It’s about whether governments can conscript private companies to disable security features built into their devices. Should the U.S. government prevail in its arguments, the All Writs Act—a statute enacted 50 years before the telegraph—could be used to compel companies to write code to defeat their own security protocols. Once courts open that door, as FBI Director James Comey said just days ago, the case would become “potentially precedential.” More is at stake than a single iPhone.

Although we deeply respect the important role that law enforcement agencies play in protecting the public, such agencies already have access to important information to help them advance their investigations. Existing laws allow agencies to compel companies to respond to lawful data requests—as Apple already did in this case. But the FBI cannot secure through the courts a compulsory power never granted by Congress. It cannot read unprecedented new authority into an 18th century statute to compel 21st century companies to act in ways that undermine user security.

We felt shock and fury at the slaughter of innocent Americans by the user of the iPhone in question during a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. We mourned the loss of life and recognize the need for governments to protect their citizens. Yahoo’s commitment to security compels us to both thoughtfully respond to lawful requests, and to build products that create a more secure user experience.

Yahoo has a long history of objecting to government conduct that we believe undermines users’ interests: Our company challenged the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) from 2007 - 2008 in response to a request we viewed as unconstitutional and overbroad. We became the first major tech company to launch a Business and Human Rights Program to protect and promote freedom of speech online. We co-founded Reform Government Surveillance, a coalition dedicated to ensuring that government law enforcement and intelligence efforts are rule-bound, narrowly tailored, transparent, and subject to oversight. And we fought in court for the right to publish a semi-annual transparency report to share which governments request data from us, and how we respond. 

Our interest in this case is clear. More than 1 billion users entrust their personal information to Yahoo. We have built these relationships over our more than 20 years in the business, and the security of our users’ information is of paramount importance to them and to  our company. This case will set critical precedents, and we’ll continue to lend our voice to the debate.