Users might have praised the technology companies for efforts to encrypt their latest devices but the FBI is not happy with Apple and Google right now.The Federal Bureau of Investigation director, James Comey, said Thursday he was “very concerned” over Apple and Google using stronger or full encryption in their Smartphones and Tablets that makes it impossible for law enforcement to collar criminals.
“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,” FBI director James Comey told reporters at FBI headquarters in Washington.”What concerns me about this is companies marketing something expressly to allow people to place themselves above the law”, he added.
One issue with the rule of law is the government’s ability to spy on U.S. citizens unrelated to terrorism or criminal activity, an issue that is yet to be explored. The government can essentially use the phone as a spying tool without a warrant. Some government spying tactics include turning on the phone’s camera and microphone for covert eavesdropping. Privacy and constitutional advocates note that such broad government spying capabilities should be associated with a warrant and probable cause,valuewalk report
Last week Apple Inc announced that even Apple could not unlock encrypted iPhones and iPads for law enforcement due to the computer devices no longer allowing user passcodes to be bypassed. “Unlike our competitors, Apple cannot bypass your passcode and therefore cannot access this data. So it’s not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants for the extraction of this data from devices in their possession running iOS 8.
“There will come a day – well it comes every day in this business – when it will matter a great, great deal to the lives of people of all kinds that we be able to with judicial authorization gain access to a kidnapper’s or a terrorist or a criminal’s device,” Comey told reporters.