Holder urges tech companies to leave device backdoors open for police
The Switch
Holder urges tech companies to leave device backdoors
open for police
By Craig Timberg September 30 at 2:00 PM
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said on Tuesday that
new forms of encryption capable of locking law enforcement officials out of
popular electronic devices imperil investigations of kidnappers and sexual
predators, putting children at increased risk.
"It is fully possible to permit law enforcement to
do its job while still adequately protecting personal privacy," Holder
said at a conference on child sexual abuse, according to a text of his prepared
remarks. "When a child is in danger, law enforcement needs to be able to
take every legally available step to quickly find and protect the child and to
stop those that abuse children. It is worrisome to see companies thwarting our
ability to do so."
In his comments, Holder became the highest government
official to publicly chastise technology companies for developing systems that
make it difficult for law enforcement officials to collect potential evidence,
even when they have search warrants. Though he didn't mention Apple and Google
by name, his remarks followed their announcements this month of new smartphone
encryption policies that have sparked a sharp government response, including
from FBI Director James B. Comey last week.
Federal, state and local law enforcement officials have
complained loudly that the companies are undermining efforts to fight crime,
including terrorism. Apple's newest mobile operating system, iOS 8, is so
thoroughly encrypted that the company says it cannot unlock iPhones or iPads
that use it. Google's Android operating system plans to begin using encryption automatically,
for all users unless they specifically opt out, in a version to be released in
October. (It will take months or years for that feature to reach most Android
users.)
Company officials have said stronger encryption better
protects the privacy of users by toughening the security of the devices against
a wide range of intrusions, by governments, criminals or curious hackers.
American technology companies have been particularly eager to demonstrate their
commitment to user privacy in the aftermath of the revelations by former National
Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, detailing the extensive reach of
government surveillance. Apple and Google did not respond to requests for
comment Tuesday.
Holder was speaking to the Global Alliance Against Child
Sexual Abuse Online, meeting in Washington, when he raised the issue of
preserving government access to electronic devices.
"Recent technological advances have the potential to
greatly embolden online criminals, providing new methods for abusers to avoid
detection," Holder said. "In some cases, perpetrators are using cloud
storage to cheaply and easily store tens of thousands of images and videos
outside of any home or business - and to access those files from anywhere in
the world. Many take advantage of encryption and anonymizing technology
to conceal contraband materials and disguise their locations."
He called on companies "to work with us to ensure
that law enforcement retains the ability, with court-authorization, to lawfully
obtain information in the course of an investigation, such as catching
kidnappers and sexual predators."
Even with the new forms of encryption, government
officials maintain access to several sources of data related to the use of
smartphones, including the records of calls and texts kept by cellular carriers
and the device backups that most smartphones make on remote cloud services,
such as Apple's iCloud. Police with search warrants also are free to use
third-party tools to try to crack the encryption on smartphones or other
devices. Courts can potentially order users to furnish passcodes that will
unlock devices as well.
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