AP

Apple told the FBI
in no uncertain terms that it did not want to help it hack into a dead terrorist's iPhone.

But would it tell the same thing to a grieving father who wants the texts and photos on his dead son's password-protected phone?

While Apple hasn't publicly responded to Italian architect Leonardo Fabbretti's viral letter asking the company to help him crack his son's phone, AFP reports
, the company has told him privately that it didn't have the ability
.

The request is an excellent example of why Apple continues to fight government requests for a "back door," or software built into the iPhone or iPad that would allow access to locked or encrypted user data.

There's no doubt that Fabbretti's story is heartbreaking: his son, Dama, died from bone cancer in September. Dama loved his iPhone 6, and he took photos all the time that his father now wants to see. And the access that Fabbretti is seeking is not unauthorized, because Dama even let his father add his fingerprint to the khu do thi phone, though it doesn't work after the phone reboots.