SAN FRANCISCO — Apple has tightened its technological security so not even the company can pry into a password-protected iPhone or iPad, a move meant to reassure the millions of people who are increasingly storing vital pieces of their lives on the devices.
The additional safeguard is part of Apple’s latest mobile software, iOS 8, which the Cupertino, Calif., company released Wednesday. Apple Inc. revealed the stronger protection in a new section of its website that is prefaced with a letter from CEO Tim Cook who emphasized the company’s “fundamental” commitment to privacy and security.
Apple is highlighting its heightened security after an episode that unfolded earlier this month after computer hackers broke into the online accounts of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence and other celebrities who stored copies of personal photos on the company’s iCloud service.
Apple’s inability to unlock password-protected smartphones and tablets could frustrate law enforcement officials who sometimes obtain court orders to vacuum personal data off the phones for potential evidence in criminal investigations.
The personal information will be blocked on more than just Apple’s newest mobile devices, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. That’s because Apple is giving away iOS 8 to anyone with devices dating back to 2011. The software can be downloaded to devices as old as the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2. That covers hundreds of millions of devices already in use.
The number of legal requests that Apple gets for personal data off devices is relatively small. Apple provided some data in nearly 6,500 of the roughly 9,600 requests that law enforcement agencies around the world submitted for devices during the first half of this year, according to the company’s own accounting. Apple says the requests came in most cases after a device was stolen.
— The Associated Press
1st orders taken for Samsung’s Note 4
NEW YORK — Samsung says U.S. wireless carriers are now taking orders for its large-screen Galaxy Note 4 smartphone and started on the same day that larger iPhones went on sale.
Even though the company began taking orders Friday, the Note 4 won’t be available until Oct. 17. It has a screen measuring 5.7 inches diagonally, slightly larger than the 5.5 inches on Apple’s new iPhone 6 Plus. The regular iPhone 6 has a 4.7-inch screen.
Unlike the iPhone, Samsung’s Note phones come with a stylus for note taking. The Note runs Google’s Android system and has Samsung-produced extras such as the ability to show multiple apps on the same screen at once.
Samsung also is making the Galaxy Note Edge with a side screen to display weather information, clocks and other information. The company hasn’t provided details about U.S. availability.
— The Associated Press
U.S. stalls on trucker training, suit says
WASHINGTON — Despite being ordered twice by Congress to come up with training requirements for commercial truck drivers, the U.S. Department of Transportation has yet to do so, leaving Americans sharing the road with big-rig operators who can spend as few as 10 hours in a classroom before hitting the highways.
On Thursday, a group of safety advocates and the Teamsters sued the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in federal court, saying the agency had dragged its feet on the long-overdue rules, breaking deadlines since 1993, most recently last year.
“There’s just no excuse anymore,” said Henry Jasny, general counsel at Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, one of the groups filing suit. “This should be basic stuff. People are dying because of the lack of training out there.”
While overall automobile fatalities in the United States have been down in recent years, deaths and injuries involving large trucks have been rising. Fatalities were up 4 percent in 2012 and injuries by 18 percent, for a total of about 4,000 deaths and roughly 70,000 injuries. According to Transportation Department data, an additional 200,000 accidents with large trucks caused damage but no injuries.
Jasny said some new drivers spend barely more than a day in the classroom for the simple process of getting a commercial driver’s license.
In a statement Thursday, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said that “safety is our top priority” and that the agency was engaging in a collaborative process designed to “implement entry-level driver training that includes behind-the-wheel instruction for operating large trucks and buses.”
While many national trucking companies typically train new drivers for several weeks, using a combination of classes and driving with a senior operator, the federal requirements still call for only 10 hours, none on the road.
In 2012, Congress passed its most recent safety legislation, known as MAP-21, and lawmakers originally ordered the Transportation Department to come up with standards in 1993. The lawsuit accuses the safety agency of ignoring congressional mandates and the recent 2013 deadline.
— The New York Times