Apple V. FBI

When Bob Lord talks about encryption, he invokes the imagery of a whisper — the idea that you should be able to re-create the most private means of physical communication in the digital world as well.

A major theme in the latest congressional hearing on encryption was whether the FBI, rather than asking tech companies for cooperation, has focused enough resources to keep up with technology itself.

The Department of Justice says it will keep pressing for Apple's help unlocking a different iPhone seized in a drug investigation in New York.

The FBI isn't saying if it can reuse its mystery digital crowbar to unlock other iPhones. The standoff is likely to be replayed as new technologies become a growing element of criminal investigations.

The Justice Department says it is withdrawing its legal action against Apple because it has been able to get data from a terrorist's phone. A spokeswoman says the FBI is reviewing the data.

The FBI is testing a new tool that may allow it to crack into the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters without Apple's help. Its success or failure could have major legal implications.

How the Apple-FBI case progresses will determine whether a new precedent will be set for the 227-year-old law that has been called antiquated, but withstood a Supreme Court challenge.

Apple and the FBI head into a court hearing on March 22 in the dispute over access to a locked iPhone. In its last filing before then, Apple says the government is stretching laws to fit the case.

The government says Apple has cited broad generalities in its refusal to help the FBI circumvent an iPhone's security features — and argues that the FBI's request is, in contrast, modest and specific.

Director James Comey says law enforcement tools are growing more ineffective in the face of encryption and acknowledges that the legal battle the FBI is fighting with Apple may be precedent-setting.