FBI Director James B. Comey sharply criticized Apple on Thursday “for developing forms of smartphone encrytption so secure that law enforcement officials cannot easily gain access to information stored on the devices — even when when they have valid search warrants,” Craig Timberg and Greg Miller report for The Washington Post.
“His comments were the most forceful yet from a top government official but echo a chorus of denunciation from law enforcement officials nationwide. Police have said that the ability to search photos, messages and Web histories on smartphones is essential to solving a range of serious crimes, from murder to child pornography to attempted terrorist attacks,” Timberg and Miller report. “‘There will come a day when it will matter a great great deal to the lives of people…that we will be able to gain access’ to such devices, Comey told reporters in a briefing. ‘I want to have that conversation [with companies responsible] before that day comes.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Fear mongering. How did these people do their jobs before 2007 when Steve Jobs delivered the smartphone to the world?
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin
“He said he could not understand why companies would ‘market something expressly to allow people to place themselves beyond the law,'” Timberg and Miller report. “Comey’s remarks followed news last week that Apple’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 8, is so thoroughly encrypted that the company is unable to unlock iPhones or iPads for police… For detectives working a tough case, few types of evidence are more revealing than a smartphone… But the era of easy law enforcement access to smartphones may be drawing to a close as courts and tech companies erect new barriers to police searches of popular electronic devices.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: A note to FBI Director James B. Comey: Dear lazy bastard, stop whining and go read the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution for what sounds like will be the first time in your life.
Again, prior to 2007, there were no evidence bonanzas from warrantless searches and seizures available right in suspects’ pockets and, yet, somehow, law enforcement personnel actually managed to solve crimes without infringing citizen’s basic constitutional rights. Use valid search warrants the way you used them before Steve Jobs gave the world the modern smartphone and tablet.
Let’s go back to following the U.S. Constitution, shall we? If it takes force from leaders like Apple for constitutional rights to be enforced, so be it.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook ups privacy to new level, takes direct swipe at Google – September 18, 2014
Apple will no longer unlock most iPhones, iPads for government, police – even with search warrants – September 18, 2014
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Apple begins encrypting iCloud email sent between providers – July 15, 2014
Obama administration demands master encryption keys from firms in order to conduct electronic surveillance against Internet users – July 24, 2013
U.S. NSA seeks to build quantum computer to crack most types of encryption – January 3, 2014
Apple’s iMessage encryption trips up U.S. feds’ surveillance – April 4, 2013