Bill Gates Disputes He Sided with FBI on iPhone Access

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is disputing reports that he's sided with the FBI in its battle over iPhone encryption security. 
 
Last week, a federal judge ordered Apple to take steps to create a code that would retrieve data from the locked phone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists. But Apple has refused.

Apple CEO Tim Cooke insists such a move would lead to a goverment breach of privacy that could extend to intercepting your messages, financial records or even access your phone's microphone or camera without your knowledge.

In an earlier interview with The Financial Times, Gates appeared to disagree with Cooke's stance.

"This is a specific case where the government is asking for access to information. They are not asking for some general thing; they are asking for a particular case," Gates argued.

However, Microsoft's co-founder is now suggesting his position has been misrepresented.

"I was disappointed because that doesn't state my view on this," Gates told Bloomberg News.

"I do believe there are sets of safeguards where the government shouldn't have to be completely blind," he continued. "But striking that balance -- clearly the government has taken information historically and used it in ways we didn't expect, going all the way back to say the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover."

This fight has coded new lines in the tech world, with giants Facebook, Twitter and Google all siding with Apple in this case.