14 DAY TRIAL // If you’ve ever wondered just how much the US government cares about your privacy, then perhaps the statement coming from the FBI director should be proof enough that the answer is close to zero.
James Comey has criticized Google and Apple for having the nerve to try to protect their customers by encrypting the phone data. He complains that this enables people to put themselves beyond the law’s reach just because the information on their smartphones can be inaccessible to law enforcement even with a court order.
“What concerns me about this is companies marketing something expressly to allow people to hold themselves beyond the law,” Comey said.
The FBI chief mentioned two examples where information obtained from cellphones was absolutely valuable, namely child-kidnapping cases and terrorism. He didn’t go into details about how often they’d have had a difficult time obtaining information up until now if such measures had been implemented a long time ago.
Encryption as default has become more important following the NSA leaks
Apple and Google have announced recently that their new operating systems for mobile devices will come fully encrypted, or rendered in code by default. This means that while law enforcement officers could still be able to intercept conversations, they won’t be able to access data stored on the device, such as call information, contacts, photos and emails.
The new policies assure users that their data is going to be protected and that their information will be kept safe and away from the prying eyes of anyone who wants to snoop on them. Both companies have reacted in accordance to the desires of their customers and their concerns following the revelations about the NSA’s mass surveillance practices.
In the past year, the importance of encryption has increased tenfold, especially as a whole new group of people starts getting interesting in such protections.
While it’s true that law enforcement sometimes needs to get a hold of people’s data, the fact that they’ve been collecting everything in bulk just for the sake of it has lessened the way the importance of such a capability has in the eyes of citizens everywhere.
In fact, the decision to have phone data encrypted by default by these companies has been welcomed by specialists and customers everywhere. Android and iOS phones are the most used in the world and therefore the protection would be extended to a very large number of people.