Apple has flat-out denied any knowledge of the NSA installing backdoors into the iPhone’s software.

This comes in response to an article in Der Spiegel in which it is stated that analysts from the NSA have called iPhone users “‘zombies’ who ‘pay for their own surveillance'” due to NSA’s alleged backdoor access to iOS.

The article in Der Spiegel detailed a “software implant for Apple iPhone” called DROPOUTJEEP, which when installed on the iPhone is capable of a plethora of options. These include putting on or taking text message, contact lists, a person’s location, as well as access to their contact lists.

Understandably Apple isn’t very happy about this information, and if they are telling the truth, have denied any involvement with the NSA on these fronts.

“Apple has never worked with the NSA to create a backdoor in any of our products, including iPhone,” wrote an Apple spokeswoman via email. Apple went on further by saying in another statement that “we have been unaware of this alleged NSA program targeting our products. Our team is continuously working to make our products even more secure, and we make it easy for customers to keep their software up to date with the latest advancements.”

[via The Globe and Mail, image via Ashok Govind’s flickr]