Microsoft's Bill Gates sides with FBI in Apple iPhone unlocking row, likens it to 'cutting a ribbon around a hard disk'

The debate about whether Apple should help the FBI to access content stored on an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters rumbles on. Based on our poll, the majority of BetaNews readers are against Apple cracking the phone (67 percent say no, 30 percent say yes, and 3 percent are currently undecided), and most tech firms have expressed similar sentiment.

But in an interview today with the Financial Times (story behind a paywall) Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has come out firmly on the side of the FBI.

"This is a specific case where the government is asking for access to information", Gates says. "They are not asking for some general thing, they are asking for a particular case. It is no different than [the question of] should anybody ever have been able to tell the phone company to get information, should anybody be able to get at bank records. Let’s say the bank had tied a ribbon round the disk drive and said, 'Don’t make me cut this ribbon because you’ll make me cut it many times'".

It seems the tide of public opinion may be turning against Apple. Pew Research Center has today released a study that shows 51 percent of Americans believe Apple should assist the FBI and unlock the shooter’s iPhone 5c, while just 38 percent think Apple shouldn’t.