Father Asks Apple to Unlock His Dead Son’s Phone

A grieving father is begging Apple to allow him access to the photos stored on his dead son’s iPhone.

Leonardo Fabbretti’s adopted son Dama died at age 13 of bone cancer in September, the Guardian reports. Now Fabbretti has written a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook pleading to unlock Dama’s phone so he can see the photos of his son.

“Don’t deny me the memories of my son,” Fabbretti wrote in the March 21 letter. “I cannot give up. Having lost my Dama, I will fight to have the last two months of photos, thoughts and words which are held hostage in his phone.”

According to CNN, Fabbretti, who lives in Italy, first contacted Apple back in the fall in the month his son passed away. Apple staff attempted to get the photographs off of iCloud, but Dama had not backed up the device. so the company said there is no way to retrieve them without the passcode.

“I think what’s happened should make you think about the privacy policy adopted by your company,” Fabbretti wrote in his new letter. “Although I share your philosophy in general, I think Apple should offer solutions for exceptional cases like mine.”