14 DAY TRIAL // US authorities really hate it when you’re trying to protect your data. The best evidence of this is the attitude the FBI has regarding the embedded encryption settings of the new iOS and Android versions.
As you may know by now, for the past few weeks, James Comey, the new director of the FBI, as well as Eric Holder, the Attorney General that’s on his way out of the office, have taken hits at the address of Apple and Google for enabling their users to encrypt their phone data.
Now, Comey has come out again and demanded that the authorities get access to private cell phone data, noting that both real-time communication and stored data are increasingly encrypted, which could prevent the government from lawfully pursuing criminals, CNET reports.
“Justice may be denied, because of a locked phone or an encrypted hard drive,” Comey said. He explained that while the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) from 1994 mandates that phone companies build wiretapping backdoors into their equipment, there are no new laws to force communications companies to do the same.
The FBI chief says that the default encryption in Apple iOS 8 and the optional Android encryption that will come with Lollipop blocks law enforcement from fully gathering evidence against suspects.
“We aren’t seeking a back-door approach. We want to use the front door, with clarity and transparency, and with clear guidance provided by law,” Comey said, indicating that he was also referring to court orders.
The FBI chief is completely ignoring the fact that without encryption, everyone’s data is up for grabs for anyone with enough technical knowledge to get it. For instance, hackers could get their hands on your information as soon as you connect to a public WiFi hotspot.
By calling out Apple and Google on providing encryption options for their users, he’s effectively saying that he doesn’t care about the risk back doors pose, completely ignoring the dangers.
Why are we here?
The need for encryption has come after Edward Snowden’s leaked documents revealed the extent of the mass surveillance apparatus put together by the NSA and its international partners. Had the government agencies stuck to spying on specific targets, rather than on everyone on the off chance that they’re going to catch someone doing something illegal, we’d be in a very different situation.
Snowden has said recently that the FBI’s claim is completely bogus. They want to make everyone believe that they will no longer have access to people’s data, but the truth is that a warrant will get them access to the phones. While the companies will no longer be able to provide authorities with data on the users because they’re not going to be holding the encryption keys, these will still be present on the phones in question. This means that getting their hands on the phones is all that’s needed for authorities to gain access to data.
“People previously used safes and combination locks to keep their information secure – now they use encryption. It's why we have worked hard to provide this added security for our users," a Google spokesperson said.