The only direct quote in the article that offers any real context:

"Forcing Apple to extract data in this case, absent clear legal authority to do so, could threaten the trust between Apple and its customers and substantially tarnish the Apple brand"

This quote, granted taken without full context, seems to indicate a pretty clear stipulation of "clear legal authority". Not sure what to make of that, but I do think that in matters of privacy and surveillance the words are always chosen very carefully indeed.