FBI director calls for greater police access to communications

Apple and Google should reconsider their plans to enable encryption by default on their smartphones, and the U.S. Congress should pass a law requiring that all communication tools allow police access to user data, U.S. FBI Director James Comey said.

Comey, repeating his recent concerns about announcements from Apple and Google to offer new encryption tools on their smartphone OSes, went a step further Thursday, when he called on Congress to rewrite the 20-year-old Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act.

Following the past 15 months of leaks about surveillance at the U.S. National Security Agency, the pendulum of public opinion has swung too far away from law enforcements needs, Comey said in a speech at the Brookings Institution.

CALEA requires telecom carriers to give police access to telephone conversations, but Comey called on Congress to expand it to cover the wide range of communication apps and devices not anticipated by lawmakers in 1994.

New encryption tools, combined with a huge number of communication tools not covered by CALEA, means law enforcement agencies are often going dark when attempting to track down criminals and terrorists, Comey said.

Ive never been someone who is a scaremonger, he added. But Im in a dangerous business. So I want to ensure that when we discuss limiting the court-authorized law enforcement tools we use to investigate suspected criminals, that we understand what society gains, and what we all stand to lose.

Comey said his goal with the speech was to open a dialog about law enforcement access to communications, and several audience members pushed back against his call for more surveillance capabilities.

Asked about NSA surveillance, Comey said he understands why companies are marketing encryption tools. The push for privacy comes from justifiable surprise on the part of the U.S. as to the extent and nature of the surveillance being conducted, he said. I can understand people being freaked and surprised, but Ive yet to see the rogue conduct, the lawless conduct, that people talk about.

However, the scope of some of the surveillance was breathtaking to people outside the law enforcement and intelligence communities, he added.

Other audience members questioned the international implications of increased law enforcement access to all communication tools. If U.S. law enforcement agencies demand access, so will other governments, said Greg Nojeim, senior counsel at digital rights group the Center for Democracy and Technology.

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FBI director calls for greater police access to communications