Even though Apple was the big tech firm in the spotlight recently for holding their ground against the FBI's overreach on encryption, Google has also been in the crosshairs of the Department of Justice (DOJ) over the same issue. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released an interactive map online which shows a multitude of cases brought against Apple and Google with similar investigative requests. Here's the link to the map: ACLU.org.
Apple has the bulk of these 63 cases shown in the map (with 52 total), but Google has nine pending cases in which the FBI is using the All Writs Act of 1789 to justify their demands. For some time, these requests (dating back as far as 2008) have been fairly routine, and Apple and Google complied when it appeared that the requests were valid and didn't overstep their bounds.
It wasn't until the FBI took things too far by trying to back Apple in to a corner with the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone hack, that the company refused to assist. Again, to reiterate the points made previously in earlier stories, Apple (and Google) didn't have a problem helping the FBI with these investigations. The problem was that the DOJ's request with the San Bernardino case was a legal overreach of authority, so Apple had to draw the line somewhere.
In theThe Wall Street Journal, Google denied ever receiving similar demands; however, they made it clear they would also “strongly object to such an order.” They added, “We carefully scrutinize subpoenas and court orders to make sure they meet both the letter and spirit of the law.” It's possible they may have to make such an objection in the future. The ACLU is currently investigation around a dozen similar cases from the FBI, and plan to update the interactive map in the future to keep citizens informed.
