(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors - UK) Microsoftco-founder Bill Gates has given his opinion on the battle between the FBI andApple(NASDAQ:AAPL) over the hacking of a phone belonging to one of the killers in the December mass shooting in San Bernadino.
Last week the FBI asked for help to hack the phone but was rebuffed byApple with others including social media titansTwitter(NYSE:TWTR) andFacebook(NASDAQ:FB) quick to endorse the phone-maker's stance.
But formerMicrosoftchief Gates remains unsure saying: 'This is a specific case where the government is asking for access to information. They are not asking for some general thing they are asking for a particular case.'
'You don't want to just take the minute after a terrorist event and swing that direction nor do you want to in general completely swing away from government access when you get some abuse being revealed. You want to strike that balance that the United States leads in setting example' he added.
It follows comments made by FBI director James Comey on Sunday in which he hit back atApple's refusal to help.
Comey said: 'We simply want the chance with a search warrant to try to guess the terrorist's passcode without the phone essentially self-destructing and without it taking a decade to guess correctly. That's it.'
Last week the US District Court in Los Angeles ruled thatApplemust provide "reasonable technical assistance" to investigators seeking to unlock the data on the phone including bypassing the passcode protection function so they can attempt an unlimited number of password guesses but the tech giant has remained resolute in its refusal.
The two are in a legal battle; withApplelooking to protect its code - which is covered by the US's free-speech law - while the FBI want to weaken the encryption process to help with investigations.
Appleshares eased 0.7% in New York to stand at US$96.20.
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