Today in cops getting angry about the new encryption on smartphones features FBI Director James Comey, who is “very concerned” about the matter. He’s so concerned that the FBI’s had conversations with Apple and Google about how they’re marketing the devices. And Comey wants the world to know that he’s upset.
“I am a huge believer in the rule of law, but I am also a believer that no one in this country is above the law,” Comey said on Thursday at FBI headquarters. “What concerns me about this is companies marketing something expressly to allow people to place themselves above the law.”
Put another way, Apple and Google think that they’re above the law because they built encryption into their mobile devices that protects users’ privacy. These improved security measures also make it more difficult for police to get information off of the devices, and it’s not a huge surprise that police do not like this. Comey’s comments come just a day after a controversial column one of his former colleagues penned in The Washington Post. (That former FBI assistant director also got his facts wrong.) Comey said that this new approach “does not make any sense.”
Well, it makes sense to some people, namely advocates of civil liberties who believe that American citizens should have the right to keep their data away of the government’s prying eyes. It surely makes a lot of sense to people who’ve been victims of government surveillance, which we’ve recently learned is much more widespread than previously thought. And it definitely makes sense to me. [HuffPost]