The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wrote a letter to Apple seeking assistance to access the contents of phones at a case in Pensacola, Florida, citing a high priority national security investigation. FBI has been unable to access the contents of the phones, even after asking private technology experts if they could help agents crack them. In a statement, Apple said it had already helped FBI agents on the Pensacola case by sharing relevant data in its cloud storage. Apple and other companies have said that encryption on phones is an important safeguard protecting consumers against hackers and other criminals.