FBI Encrypted Phones - The FBI director, James Comrey, spoke on Oct. 16 at the Brookings Institution in Washington against encrypted phones.
The FBI is worried about companies like Apple and Google that are getting the new lines of their companies to be more secure for the user. In other terms, the encryption is having more complicated algorithms.
Due to this reason, the access towards the devices is getting also more complicated and the FBI "asks" companies not to advance in encrypting phones even further.
As a matter of fact, what Comrey specifically asked was for a program or a "fix" to be done for the system that the agency uses, so that the information can still be accessed by the law enforcement.
Otherwise, cases could be stalled because information that is considered vital is not being able to be visualized by the FBI. He added that suspects could walk free because of these arisen complications.
But the security on phones and the encryption of data in smartphones and other devices is done for a reason.
"Encryption isn't just a technical feature. It's a marketing pitch. But it will have very serious consequences for law enforcement and national security agencies at every level," Comrey shared and ABC noted.
Still, encryption isn't just a matter of marketing for the companies.
"Just as people won't put their money in a bank they don't trust, people won't use an Internet they don't trust," the general counsel of Microsoft said, according to NY Times.
This is a valid point, as FBI spying on the information of people has been an issue that is not really new. And it's not something that is welcomed. Privacy is a right and so, a complete access wouldn't be a possibility.
But apparently, the main worry of the FBI and Comrey as its speaker about the issue is not the encrypted phones on themselves, but the future. If encryption is possible to a totality in a near future, then things could progress.
The encryption could appear in laptops, desktops and all sorts of devices soon as well; and this being a globalized world, where most communications are done through some of those, then the access would vanish completely for law enforcement.
