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from the nothing-to-hide-vs-none-of-your-business dept.
The New York Times published an interesting story about the fears of the current FBI director:
The director of the F.B.I., James B. Comey, said Thursday that federal laws should be changed to require telecommunications companies to give law enforcement agencies access to the encrypted communications of individuals suspected of crimes.
... Mr. Comey warned that crimes could go unsolved if law enforcement officers cannot gain access to information that technology companies like Apple and Google are protecting using increasingly sophisticated encryption technology.
“Unfortunately, the law hasn’t kept pace with technology, and this disconnect has created a significant public safety problem,” he said.
Mr. Comey said that he was hoping to spur Congress to update the 20-year-old Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, which does not require companies to give law enforcement direct access to individuals’ communications.
The F.B.I. has long had concerns about devices “going dark” — when technology becomes so sophisticated that the authorities cannot gain access to them. But now, Mr. Comey is warning that the new encryption technology has evolved to the point that it could adversely affect crime solving.
The kicker is this line:
“Those charged with protecting our people aren’t always able to access the evidence we need to prosecute crime and prevent terrorism, even with lawful authority."
Of course, it should be no surprise to the FBI why so many people are going "dark" and using things like Tails. For decades, the government has proven time and again that it can't be trusted to act lawfully and constitutionally. The FBI is responsible for more than its share of that. So naturally those who can are going to take steps to protect their privacy and Apple and Google, among others, are simply responding to that demand.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Friday October 17 2014, @02:34PM
iOS devices are encrypted by default
And I'm sure Apple would happily hand over the keys if the NSA so much as waggled an eyebrow in their direction. It's Apple...there's no way they can't just extract your keys if they wanted to.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Saturday October 18 2014, @02:13PM
That was the whole point of the iOS 8.0 changes, they removed the keys from their own control.
Keep in mind too, Apple was one of the LAST companies to be pulled into PRISM. Google was one of the first. So no reason to try to single out Apple there.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Monday October 20 2014, @02:33PM
I guess I'm still surprised that the NSA hasn't gotten pissy about that yet. Because everybody knows encryption is just for Us, not for anybody else!
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Saturday October 25 2014, @07:15PM
Well when you intercept practically all network traffic, why care about how it's stored on the endpoint? Not to mention they still have their malware that can hijack the device.