WASHINGTON — FBI Director James Comey warned in stark terms Thursday against the push by technology companies to encrypt smartphone data and operating systems, arguing that murder cases could be stalled, suspects could walk free and justice could be thwarted by a locked phone or an encrypted hard drive.
Privacy advocates and technology experts called the concerns exaggerated and little more than recycled arguments the government has raised against encryption since the early 1990s.
Likening encrypted data to a safe that cannot be cracked or a closet door that won’t open, Comey said the move by tech companies to protect user communications in the name of privacy is certain to impede a wide range of criminal investigations. New legislation to allow law enforcement to intercept communications is needed at a time of advancing technology and new forms of communication, he said.
“We have the legal authority to intercept and access communications from information pursuant to court order, but we often lack the technical ability to do so,” Comey said in a Brookings Institution speech.
Comey cited particular cases in which he said access to cellphone data aided in a criminal investigation. But in a question-and-answer session after the speech, he said he could not cite particular instances in which someone was rescued from danger who wouldn’t have been had law enforcement been blocked from that information.
While the companies’ actions are understandable, Comey said, “the place they are leading us is one we shouldn’t go to without careful thought and debate.”
“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,” Comey said.
The government’s concerns may also center in part on the use of Apple’s iMessage platform, which offers end-to-end encrypted text messages that supersede traditional SMS messages. That kind of encryption likely provides access to those messages on users’ iPhones, of which Apple has sold more than 240 million since 2013.
He acknowledged a rise in public mistrust of government in the year since former National Security Agency systems analyst revealed NSA secret intelligence collection programs. But he said the public was wrong to believe that law enforcement can access any and all communications with the flip of a switch.
“It may be true in the movies or on TV. It is simply not the case in real life,” he said.
Comey also said the FBI was committed to a “front-door” approach, through court orders and under strict oversight, to intercepting communications. Privacy advocates have long been concerned that that development would create an opening for hackers to exploit. The American Civil Liberties Union noted that federal law protects the right of companies to add encryption with no backdoors and said the companies should be credited for being “unwilling to weaken security for everyone.”
