FBI CHIEF: Apple-FBI dispute is 'unlikely to be a trailblazer' for setting a legal precedent in future cases
The complex and evolving nature of mobile phone software will limit how broadly the case can be applied, Comey said during a U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee hearing examining worldwide threats.
While the case "will be instructive for other courts," broader policy questions about reasonable law enforcement access to encrypted data will likely need to be resolved by Congress and others, Comey said.
While Apple has been reportedly investigating how to make future iPhones impervious to requests like the FBI's, Comey remarked that Apple had been "very cooperative" thus far.
Many tech and information security experts are worried that, if the FBI ultimately prevails in the case, the government could force all companies trying to build secure devices for their customers to do the same thing it is asking of Apple.
"If a court can legally compel Apple" to comply with its demands, "then it likely could also legally compel any other software provider to do the same," Kevin Bankston, director of the nonprofit New America's Open Technology Institute, explained to Business Insider in an interview.
David Kennedy, a former Marine Corps intelligence analyst and professional hacker, echoed these worries in a separate interview.
Were Apple to comply with the FBI's request, he said, "the company would have to introduce exposures into all future phones, and anyone trying to develop secure devices in the future would have to figure out a way to introduce a similar mechanism" to what the FBI wants now. That would essentially be a code that would override the iPhone feature that only allows you to enter a certain number of passwords before the device's data is wiped.
The case has enflamed debate between figures in the tech, intelligence, and privacy communities. Bill Gates, Silicon Valley execs, and even Marco Rubio have offered competing opinions on the nuances of the issue, and even the judge overseeing the case requested the technical details of what would be involved for Apple to comply with the FBI's demands in addition to the company's legal arguments against compliance.
Comey noted in a blog post last weekend that "the San Bernardino litigation isn't about trying to set a precedent or send any kind of message."
But on Thursday, he conceded that it was the "hardest question I've seen in government."
Reuters contributed to this report.