Google Was Asked Repeatedly To Help U.S. Government Unlock Android Devices

The U.S. government recently dropped its case against Apple Inc. AAPL which would have forced the company to help unlock an iPhone owned by one of the terrorists involved in the San Bernardino shooting.

Apple's story has made national headlines and may have prompted civil liberty activists to dig deeper. The Verge, citing a research report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), stated that the U.S. government reached out to Apple and Alphabet Inc GOOG's Google 63 times to help unlock a handset.

The Verge noted the bulk of the cases targeted Apple and only nine of the orders were directed towards Google. The publication added that while Google doesn't maintain access to the software running on an Android device, it does manage many of the lockscreen protections.

"We carefully scrutinize subpoenas and court orders to make sure they meet both the letter and spirit of the law," a Google spokesperson told The Verge in a statement. "However, we've never received an All Writs Act order like the one Apple recently fought that demands we build new tools that actively compromise our products' security. As our amicus shows, we would strongly object to such an order."