Apple participates in PRISM, revealed by Ed Snowden, which obtains data under the FISA Amendments Act (FAA) Section 702, which does not require a warrant.
Instead, they set up a secret, unaccountable court (the FISA court) which rubber stamps these activities, almost without exception. This allows them to say the accesses are “court supervised” or other such weasel words. It does have “court involvement” - a secret, kangaroo court designed for the purpose of satisfying people who like the phrase “court order”.
It’s not a warrant, scoped to a specific thing, issued only on probable cause.
The widespread use of 702 for domestic warrantless spying, including PRISM, has been cited by Ed Snowden as one of the things that caused him to become a whistleblower.
Instead, they set up a secret, unaccountable court (the FISA court) which rubber stamps these activities, almost without exception. This allows them to say the accesses are “court supervised” or other such weasel words. It does have “court involvement” - a secret, kangaroo court designed for the purpose of satisfying people who like the phrase “court order”.
It’s not a warrant, scoped to a specific thing, issued only on probable cause.
The widespread use of 702 for domestic warrantless spying, including PRISM, has been cited by Ed Snowden as one of the things that caused him to become a whistleblower.
https://www.eff.org/702-spying