Apple's plans to make iOS more secure and iPhones harder to crack could be doomed to failure if legislation proposed for adoption in New York state is enacted in the near future.
Basically, a law proposed for adoption in the state of New York requires all smartphone manufacturers to include data decryption and unlocking systems in their terminals, if they intend to sell the devices in the respective region.
The law would require that all smartphones manufactured and sold starting with January 1, 2016 have data decryption and security code removal systems, a fine of 2500 dollars for each terminal that violates the law could be imposed by the authorities.
This legislation would force Apple to maintain an access gate in iOS that would allow it to unlock even an iPhone protected with a security code/password/Touch ID, the data from it could then be decrypted, including access to iMessage or FaceTime.
A bill that is making its way through the New York state assembly would require that smartphone manufacturers build mechanisms into the devices that would allow the companies to decrypt or unlock them on demand from law enforcement.
Although Apple may be required to have methods of accessing user data, the US authorities could only obtain access to them with court orders, so Apple would not be required to provide information even to any kind of request made by government agencies.
If this legislation were to be adopted, all of Tim Cook's strategy to create a more secure iOS would be useless because other American states will certainly adopt similar legislation, and iOS would become as easy to compromise as Android.
In order for the law to be adopted, it must be voted on by members of the New York state legislature, and Apple will most likely lobby for it not to be adopted, but no one can know in advance how a vote of this kind will unfold.
The past days Tim Cook refused the US Attorney General's request to provide access ports in iOS and to decrypt the data of iDevices, but here is that a law like the one proposed in New York could oblige him to honor future requests of this kind.
