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FBI blasts Apple, Google for locking police out of phones
Washington Post ^ | September 25, 2014 | Craig Timberg and Greg Miller

Posted on 09/25/2014 3:05:24 PM PDT by re_tail20

FBI Director James B. Comey sharply criticized Apple and Google on Thursday for developing forms of smartphone encryption so secure that law enforcement officials cannot easily gain access to information stored on the devices — even when they have valid search warrants.

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.

“There will come a day when it will matter a 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.”

Comey added that FBI officials already have made initial contact with the two companies, which announced their new smartphone encryption initiatives last week. He said he could not understand why companies would “market something expressly to allow people to place themselves beyond the law.”

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. Google, meanwhile, is moving to an automatic form of encryption for its newest version of Android operating system that the company also will not be able to unlock, though it will take longer for that new feature to reach most consumers.

Both companies, contacted Thursday afternoon, declined to offer immediate reaction to Comey’s comments.

For detectives working a tough case, few types of evidence are more revealing than a smartphone...

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: communications; fbi; fbiapple
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1 posted on 09/25/2014 3:05:24 PM PDT by re_tail20
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To: re_tail20

2 posted on 09/25/2014 3:06:50 PM PDT by Red in Blue PA (When Injustice becomes Law, Resistance Becomes Duty.-Thomas Jefferson)
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To: Red in Blue PA

Now THAT’S an appropriate response!


3 posted on 09/25/2014 3:08:30 PM PDT by BBB333 (Q: Which is grammatically correct? Joe Biden IS or Joe Biden ARE an idiot?)
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To: re_tail20

Tyrant’s hissy-fit!


4 posted on 09/25/2014 3:09:41 PM PDT by DaveyB ("When injustice becomes the law; rebellion becomes duty." - Thomas Jefferson)
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To: Red in Blue PA

Sue looks angry.


5 posted on 09/25/2014 3:10:37 PM PDT by EEGator
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To: re_tail20

Gee, guess you’ll have to get a warrant, Chief.


6 posted on 09/25/2014 3:10:53 PM PDT by Jack Hammer
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To: Red in Blue PA

Exactly my feelings.


7 posted on 09/25/2014 3:10:58 PM PDT by Crazieman (Article V or National Divorce. The only solutions now.)
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To: BBB333
“There will come a day when it will matter a great deal to the lives of people…that we will be able to gain access”

True.

May people's lives will be ruined if a totalitarian dictatorship runs roughshod over the People!

8 posted on 09/25/2014 3:13:32 PM PDT by PATRIOT1876
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To: re_tail20
"Good puppy, the FBI building is next."


9 posted on 09/25/2014 3:16:53 PM PDT by Slyfox (Satan's goal is to rub out the image of God he sees in the face of every human.)
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To: re_tail20

You’d think a good Irishman would understand guarantees against the intrusions of the King’s Men.


10 posted on 09/25/2014 3:18:18 PM PDT by Regulator
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To: re_tail20

I see their point but they have no one but themselves and the NSA to blame.

The Patriot Act was a clarion call to Americans that government could and now has overstepped its bounds.

We are still citizens with 4th Amendment rights. If they haven’t been so routinely stomped on by the feds and local LEO’s (Mind if we search your vehicle or residence?) I might feel bad. However I don’t.

I fear the government more than a terrorist.


11 posted on 09/25/2014 3:20:33 PM PDT by PittsburghAfterDark
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To: re_tail20

What did the authorities expect? Apple and Google (neither of whom I like) are just answering the call from consumers for better digital security. Marketing prevails.


12 posted on 09/25/2014 3:23:48 PM PDT by upchuck (It's a shame nobama truly doesn't care about any of this. Our country, our future, he doesn't care.)
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To: re_tail20
I upgraded my wife's phone yesterday for an Apple 5. She wanted all her apps and contacts, so I asked them to transfer them. I watched as he plugged the one phone into the port of a neat little box. He then plugged in the new phone and presto! in one minute it buffered 1,200 contacts, all the apps, her emails, and grocery lists. Then he uploaded them to her new phone and done!

I said wow! I bet the cops have those. He said yep, and they carry them in their cars. I said no warrants or anything? He said nope!

13 posted on 09/25/2014 3:26:11 PM PDT by blackdog (There is no such thing as healing, only a balance between destructive and constructive forces.)
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To: re_tail20

Bogus claim meant to settle hostilities towards government spying on citizens.

For the past ten years of so the FBI has been enjoying a significantly different relationship with the NSA. In prior years the FBI had very little cooperation with the NSA. The relationship now has the FBI /CIA/DHS all cooperating and that includes cryptology. The NSA can read faster than you can any encrypted message you may ever receive. Now the FBI has that ability.


14 posted on 09/25/2014 3:32:46 PM PDT by CodeToad (Romney is a raisin cookie looking for chocolate chip cookie votes.)
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To: re_tail20

They need a continuous view of your private information to fight the War on Terror. [Little irony and sarcasm there. Watch out for the local, yocal robbers behind them.]


15 posted on 09/25/2014 3:34:22 PM PDT by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of corruption smelled around the planet.)
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To: familyop

All show and don’t think any of this is true. Snowden gave all these companies black eyes and they lost face with the public. I don’t believe for a second that Apple or Google are not working with law enforcement to violate our privacy.


16 posted on 09/25/2014 3:36:57 PM PDT by RBW in PA
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To: re_tail20
...even when they have valid search warrants.

Having a valid search warrant doesn't mean a person has to divulge the combination to their vault. The police may take the vault, but they still have to open it.

-PJ

17 posted on 09/25/2014 3:40:23 PM PDT by Political Junkie Too (If you are the Posterity of We the People, then you are a Natural Born Citizen.)
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To: Political Junkie Too

Yeah, and I don’t have a cel phone.

So how do they decrypt the stuff out of my brain????

Like names, incidents, dates, images, etc.

Got to protect all those lives, you know.


18 posted on 09/25/2014 3:43:48 PM PDT by Scrambler Bob (/s /s /s /s /s, my replies are "liberally" sprinkled with them behind every word and letter.!)
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To: re_tail20

BS. I guarantee there’s a back door for the feds as big as a 747


19 posted on 09/25/2014 3:44:32 PM PDT by varyouga
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To: RBW in PA
Exactly! This is a direct result of the Snowden effect. It shouldn't be taken lightly he was the first to defect from the US over issues of liberty.

20 posted on 09/25/2014 3:50:27 PM PDT by Steve Van Doorn (*in my best Eric Cartman voice* 'I love you, guys')
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