James Comey, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), warned Apple and Google once again and stated that the two companies' data encryption feature for its operating systems can help criminals evade law enforcers, CBS News reported.
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Comey slammed the two tech giants during an interview with CBS' '60 Minutes.'
Based on Apple and Google's respective release announcements, the latest versions of the iOS and Android will have data encryption feature to protect the information of users.
Through this feature, messages, pictures and other files in smartphones can only be accessed by the user through a passcode. Law enforcers, on the other hand, cannot obtain these files.
Comey noted that data encryption puts people above the law.
'The notion that we would market devices that allow someone to place themselves beyond the law troubles me a lot,' he said. 'As a country, I don't know why we would want to put people beyond the law.'
To make his point clearer, Comey explained that data encryption is similar to car trunks that cannot be opened by police officers and apartment units that cannot be entered by authorities for investigation purposes, according to The Atlantic.
In other words, the security feature prevents law enforcement agencies from monitoring criminals who could be plotting their illegal activities using their smartphones.
'The notion that people have devices, again, that with court orders, based on a showing of probable cause in a case involving kidnapping or child exploitation or terrorism, we could never open that phone,' Comey said 'My sense is that we've gone too far when we've gone there.'
Despite Comey's statements regarding the dangers of data encryption, law enforcers are not completely prohibited from obtaining information through smartphones. They can do so by getting a warrant from a judge that will allow them to physically access the device, Tech Times reported.
The FBI's problem with this, however, is it prevents authorities from conducting their investigations covertly.
Posted by Unknown on Friday, October 17, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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