FBI chief calls for national talk over encryption vs. safety

AP Big Story ^ | Aug. 5, 2016 9:53 PM EDT | By PAUL ELIAS

[Swordmaker]

FBI Director James Comey gestures during an address to the American Bar Association annual meeting

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The FBI's director said Friday the agency is collecting data to present next year in hopes of sparking a national conversation about law enforcement's increasing inability to access encrypted electronic devices.

Speaking Friday at the American Bar Association annual conference in San Francisco, James Comey said the agency was unable to access 650 of 5,000 electronic devices investigators attempted to search over the last 10 months. He said the problem is only going to get worse without a discussion about the technology.

Comey says encryption technology makes it impossible in a growing number of criminal cases to search electronic devices. But he said it's up to U.S. citizens, rather than the FBI or government officials, to decide whether to modify the technology to help law enforcement access the devices.

Comey's concern with encryption emerged earlier this year when the FBI engaged in a high-profile legal fight with Apple over accessing data from a locked iPhone used by one of the two shooters in the San Bernardino, California, terrorist attack. The legal fight remained unresolved because the FBI dropped its court challenge after it said it found a way to access the shooter's iPhone.

[VideoDoctor]

FBI chief calls for national talk over encryption vs. safety

Stick encryption up your a$$ Comey.

[ThunderSleeps]

Discussion? I don't see what there is to discuss - ANDROID PING!
Android Ping! If you want on or off the Android Ping List, Freepmail me.

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My take on it: From a 10,000 ft level: there are more than enough vulnerabilities in large software systems already. We don't need to be making the situation worse by putting in intentional vulnerabilities. It is not a question of if, but only when and how badly such vulnerabilities would be discovered and exploited by hackers.

Don't even get me started on the whole privacy issue. The government, particularly under this latest administration, has shown it cannot be trusted. Far too many political leaders have been making some very un-Constitutional, un-American, anti-liberty, and very fascist-like statements. It is now more clear than ever the Founding Fathers were right - the government must be limited in it's power because it cannot be trusted with power and control.

[PreciousLiberty]

Here is the story: The bad guys already have encryption technology that you can neither detect nor break.

All you really want is the ability to snoop on regular citizens at will. No thanks. Do good police work and gather evidence the old-fashioned way.

[dfwgator]

Those who trade freedom for security will get neither.