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FBI Director Wray calls inability to access electronic devices an ‘urgent public safety issue’
MacDailyNews ^ | January 9, 2018

Posted on 01/09/2018 2:21:44 PM PST by Swordmaker

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is increasingly unable to access data from some electronic devices that could help in prosecuting criminals and terrorists, which is an ‘“urgent public safety issue,’ said Christopher Wray, director of the agency, speaking at a cybersecurity conference here Tuesday,” Sara Castellanos reports for The Wall Street Journal. “In fiscal year 2017, the FBI was unable to access the content of 7,775 devices tied to defendants and victims in criminal cases, Mr. Wray said in a speech at the International Conference on Cybersecurity. That number represents more than half of all the devices tied to criminal cases that the FBI attempted to access during that year, he said.”

“He implored technology companies to help law enforcement agencies prosecute criminals by ensuring that there are ways to access secure information on electronic devices with a court order,” Castellanos reports. ” Executives of technology companies including Apple Inc. have argued against what they call ‘backdoors’ for law enforcement, which the companies say create security vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers and threaten the privacy of customers. ‘We’re not looking for a backdoor, which I understand to mean some kind of secret or insecure means of access,’ Mr. Wray said at the conference, hosted by the FBI and Fordham University. ‘What we’re looking for and asking for is the ability to access the device once we’ve had a warrant from an independent judge who has confirmed there is probable cause.'”

MacDailyNews Take: In other words, a backdoor.

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: For the umpteenth time: Encryption is either on or off. This is a binary issue. There is no in-between. You either have encryption or you do not.

There have been people that suggest that we should have a back door. But the reality is if you put a back door in, that back door’s for everybody, for good guys and bad guys. — Apple CEO Tim Cook, December 2015

This is not about this phone. This is about the future. And so I do see it as a precedent that should not be done in this country or in any country. This is about civil liberties and is about people’s abilities to protect themselves. If we take encryption away… the only people that would be affected are the good people, not the bad people. Apple doesn’t own encryption. Encryption is readily available in every country in the world, as a matter of fact, the U.S. government sponsors and funs encryption in many cases. And so, if we limit it in some way, the people that we’ll hurt are the good people, not the bad people; they will find it anyway. — Apple CEO Tim Cook, February 2016



TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: applepinglist; cellphones; electronicdevices; fbi; nationalsecurity; privacy; security; wray
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To: CJ Wolf
"What we’re looking for and asking for is the ability to access the device once we’ve had a warrant from an independent judge who has confirmed there is probable cause."

Going back 175 years you would have to get a warrant to unlock a file cabinet and read secure papers. Pretty much the same thing.

Fine, FBI, Police Department, get your search warrant for the device, and then go to the owner of the device and force them to unlock it. Don't involve a third-party to force them to change the technology for your convenience and put all of us at risk. If the owner refuses to unlock it, JAIL HIM UNTIL HE DOES!

61 posted on 01/09/2018 3:21:13 PM PST by Swordmaker (My pistol self-identifies as an iPad, so you must accept it in gun-free zones, you racist, bigot!)
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To: Kozy

The FBI is so far below the threshold for any agency of government deserving of trust that yours is the only solution.

Fire half. Absorb some of the rest to continue any legitimate investigation that is going on, if there is any, for the good of the country. It’s entirely possible that there are no legitimate activities going on in the FBI.

I suppose we could and probably should ask them, but they would lie about it, so it’s going to have to be a subjective decision.


62 posted on 01/09/2018 3:21:16 PM PST by RFEngineer
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To: JPJones

“FBI Director Wray calls inability to access Republican electronic devices an ‘urgent public safety issue’.

Fixed.”

The FBI and DOJ have enough criminal information available already to keep them busy for years. Unfortunately, they aren’t doing anything with it and yet they want more?


63 posted on 01/09/2018 3:21:37 PM PST by Bonemaker
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To: SgtHooper

Er, male that the FBI.


64 posted on 01/09/2018 3:22:11 PM PST by SgtHooper (If you remember the 60's, YOU WEREN'T THERE!)
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To: Swordmaker

Another option. Maybe the FBI would look at computers in questionable circumstances. This may lead to actual investigation with valid probable cause. Who knew!


65 posted on 01/09/2018 3:22:36 PM PST by DrDude
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To: SgtHooper

Erp! SHtoopid crown royal. EErrrp!


66 posted on 01/09/2018 3:23:17 PM PST by SgtHooper (If you remember the 60's, YOU WEREN'T THERE!)
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To: proust

“Somehow govt got by without electronic devices before without public safety issues.”

But democrats need all these tools to spy on their political opponents.


67 posted on 01/09/2018 3:24:27 PM PST by Bonemaker
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To: Swordmaker

Exactly, but that’s inconvenient to the FBI and thwarts any back door espionage they want to freely engage in before a legal warrant can be obtained.


68 posted on 01/09/2018 3:25:42 PM PST by TADSLOS (Reset Underway!)
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To: a fool in paradise

Good question. I am not that computer savy. I did have cases where the Forensic Guy would plug in certain phones. The result was a complete printout of all calls(with length), all texts(verbatium), a complete contact list and several other reports. Some voice messages are preserved in the system and I have received MP3 of these voice calls.

Who knows what phones and/or company can block. I would think that is enough information. When a body is found with a phone in their hands, check the phones. Warrant will not be denied for those reasons. One murder led to about a dozen drug cases. Info was used but not sole evidence.


69 posted on 01/09/2018 3:29:05 PM PST by DrDude
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To: BenLurkin

The whole country as “the village”.


70 posted on 01/09/2018 3:37:23 PM PST by wally_bert (I didn't get where I am today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone & West Germany)
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To: bkopto
Fay Wray?

Seems like it might as well be.

71 posted on 01/09/2018 3:38:20 PM PST by Bonemaker
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To: TexasGator

A portable wiretap?


72 posted on 01/09/2018 3:43:56 PM PST by a fool in paradise (Did Barack Obama denounce Communism and dictatorships when he visited Cuba as a puppet of the State?)
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To: DesertRhino

“What an ass. Who the hell told them the government should have a right to possess every bit and bye of information in America?

Fascist A-hole.

And what good would it do? They knew the San Berdoo shooter woman was a jihadi when she applied to come into the country.
They knew about the Boston Bombers.
They knew about Major Hassan.
They knew about the pulse nightclub shooter.

Their problem isn’t too little information.”

Exactly. They were all “on their radar” but Comey and his boys could care less and were too busy spying on political opponents.


73 posted on 01/09/2018 3:44:28 PM PST by Bonemaker
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To: DesertRhino
It is pervasive all the way down to the secretarial staff.

How long did it take for Joe the Plumber to have his personal data released to the public?

74 posted on 01/09/2018 3:46:22 PM PST by itsahoot (As long as there is money to be divided, there will be division.)
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To: Bonemaker

75 posted on 01/09/2018 3:47:49 PM PST by Bonemaker
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To: Swordmaker

I agree with you but in the case of the San Bernardino terrorists the owner was dead. All I remember is that the FBI wanted technology to unlock the device instead of just asking Apple to open it.


76 posted on 01/09/2018 4:10:35 PM PST by Rusty0604
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To: Rusty0604

They wanted a tool that they could use again and again. The FBI was not satisfied with any assistance.


77 posted on 01/09/2018 4:38:54 PM PST by DesertRhino (Dog is man's best friend, and moslems hate dogs. Add that up. ....)
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To: Swordmaker

78 posted on 01/09/2018 6:04:48 PM PST by rfp1234 (I have already previewed this composition.)
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To: Swordmaker

What did they do when there wasn’t any electronic devices to hack...


79 posted on 01/09/2018 7:01:19 PM PST by tubebender
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To: DesertRhino

I know. If they had the tool, they wouldn’t have to mess with those pesky warrants.


80 posted on 01/09/2018 7:07:24 PM PST by Rusty0604
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