Category Archives: Encryption

Editorial: Compromise needed on smartphone encryption

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By Editorial Board October 3

LAW ENFORCEMENT officials deserve to be heard in their recent warnings about the impact of next-generation encryption technology on smartphones, such as Apples new iPhone. This is an important moment in which technology, privacy and the rule of law are colliding.

Apple announced Sept. 17 that its latest mobile operating system, iOS 8, includes encryption so thorough that the company will not be able to unlock it for law enforcement. The encryption is to be set by the user, and Apple will not retain the key. Googles next version of its popular Android operating system also will be unlockable by the company. Both insist they are giving consumers ironclad privacy protection. The moves are in large part a response to public worries about National Security Agency surveillance of Internet and telephone metadata revealed by former government contractor Edward Snowden.

What has the law enforcement community up in arms is the prospect of losing access to the data on these smartphones in cases where they have a valid, court-approved search warrant. The technology firms, while pledging to honor search warrants in other situations, say they simply wont possess the ability to unlock the smartphones. Only the owner of the phone, who set up the encryption, will be able to do that. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said this could imperil investigations in kidnapping and other cases; FBI Director James B. Comey said he could not understand why the tech companies would market something expressly to allow people to place themselves beyond the law.

This is not about mass surveillance. Law enforcement authorities are not asking for the ability to surveil everyones smartphone, only those relatively few cases where there is a court-approved search warrant. This seems reasonable and not excessively intrusive. After all, the government in many other situations has a right and responsibility to set standards for products so that laws are followed. Why not smartphones? Moreover, those worried about privacy can take solace from the Supreme Courts decision in June in Riley v. California, which acknowledged the large amount of private information on smartphones and said a warrant is generally required before a search.

Law enforcement will not be entirely without tools in criminal investigations. Data stored in the cloud and other locations will still be available; wiretaps, too. But smartphone users must accept that they cannot be above the law if there is a valid search warrant.

How to resolve this? A police back door for all smartphones is undesirable a back door can and will be exploited by bad guys, too. However, with all their wizardry, perhaps Apple and Google could invent a kind of secure golden key they would retain and use only when a court has approved a search warrant. Ultimately, Congress could act and force the issue, but wed rather see it resolved in law enforcement collaboration with the manufacturers and in a way that protects all three of the forces at work: technology, privacy and rule of law.

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Editorial: Compromise needed on smartphone encryption

SurfEasy Plug In USB Privacy Web Browser w/ Encryption with Dan Hughes – Video

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SurfEasy Plug In USB Privacy Web Browser w/ Encryption with Dan Hughes - Video

Apple’s Encryption Will Slow, Not Stop, Cops And Spies

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Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- While the newest Apple and Google smartphones will automatically encrypt data stored on them, that wont keep U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies from obtaining evidence linked to the devices. Bloombergs Jordan Robertson reports on Bloomberg West. (Source: Bloomberg)

While the newest Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google Inc. (GOOGL) smartphones will automatically encrypt data stored on them, that wont keep U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies from obtaining evidence linked to the devices.

Marketing by the two companies in which they pledge to shield photos, documents, contact lists and other data from the prying eyes of government or hackers won plaudits from privacy advocates. It also drew condemnation from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, FBI Director James Comey and local police officials who say it will make it harder to investigate crimes ranging from child abuse to drug trafficking and terrorism.

Those assertions are wildly exaggerated because police can still obtain evidence through traditional court warrants while revelations about government spying show the National Security Agency can break or bypass encryption for terrorism investigations, said Jonathan Turley, a constitutional-law professor at The George Washington University Law School.

Citizens should not assume that these encryption devices will necessarily prevent government from intercepting communications, Turley said in a phone interview. If history is any guide, the government will find a way to penetrate these devices.

The issue has renewed tension between law enforcement and intelligence agencies and technology companies trying to stand up for the privacy rights of their users. Apple, Google and other companies have been trying to restore their reputations after revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that they cooperated with government spying programs in the past.

The companies announced in recent weeks that their new phones will automatically scramble data so that a digital key kept by the owner is needed to unlock it, making it harder for detectives to examine the content of suspects phones without their knowledge or cooperation. Previously, such encryption was an option that required users to endure a time-consuming process to activate.

This is going to have a very big impact on law enforcement, said Stewart Baker, a former general counsel for the NSA and now a partner at the law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP in Washington. There will be crimes that people get away with because this information is not available.

However, many traditional investigative methods will still work, he said.

Wiretaps would still work. You can also get call-details records, he said. Thats available from the phone companies and its not affected by this decision.

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Apple’s Encryption Will Slow, Not Stop, Cops And Spies

US top cop decries encryption, demands backdoors

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US Attorney General Eric Holder

Attorney General Eric Holder, the US top law enforcement official, said it is "worrisome" that tech companies are providing default encryption on consumer electronics. Locking the authorities out of being able to physically access the contents of devices puts children at risk, he said.

Holder's remarks, while he did not mention any particular company by name, come two weeks after Apple announced its new iPhone 6 models would be equipped with data encryption that prevents authorities from accessing the contents of the phone. At the same time, Google said its upcoming Android operating system will also have default encryption.

The encryption decision by two of the world's biggest names in tech is a bid to gain the trust of customers in the wake of the Edward Snowden surveillance revelations.

Holder said he wants a backdoor to defeat encryption. He urged the tech sector "to work with us to ensure that law enforcement retains the ability, with court-authorization, to lawfully obtain information in the course of an investigation, such as catching kidnappers and sexual predators."

Recent technological advances have the potential to greatly embolden online criminals, providing new methods for abusers to avoid detection. In some cases, perpetrators are using cloud storage to cheaply and easily store tens of thousands of images and videos outside of any home or businessand to access those files from anywhere in the world. Many take advantage of encryption and anonymizing technology to conceal contraband materials and disguise their locations.

The attorney generalwho plansto step down from the position he has held for six years as soon as a successor takes officeis the highest-ranking member of the President Barack Obama administration to assail encryption in the wake of the Apple and Google announcements.

James Comey, the Federal Bureau of Investigation director, last week said he was concerned aboutthe marketing of smart phones that can't be physically searched by law enforcement.

"What concerns me about this is companies marketing something expressly to allow people to place themselves beyond the law," Comey said. He said the bureau has reached out to Apple and Google "to understand what they're thinking and why they think it makes sense."

It seems that the law is on the tech sector's side, however.

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US top cop decries encryption, demands backdoors

Holder Criticizes Apple & Google Data Encryption

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Joining a cry from law enforcement officials concerned about data encryption on Apple's newest operating system, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said on Tuesday that officers should not be blocked from the information they need to investigate a crime.

Apple's new iPhone 6, released this month, and Google's coming update of the Android smartphone have data encryption so sophisticated that only the user may unlock it. Even law enforcement officers with search warrants would not have access.

"It is fully possible to permit law enforcement to do its job while still adequately protecting personal privacy," Holder said in a speech before the Global Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Online.

Holder said quick access to phone data can help law enforcement officers find and protect victims, such as those targeted by kidnappers and sexual predators.

Justice Department officials said Holder is merely asking for cooperation from the companies at this time.

Holder's comments echo concerns raised last week by FBI Director James Comey.

"What concerns me about this is companies marketing something expressly to allow people to place themselves beyond the law," he said.

Comey said agents at the FBI have had conversations with Apple and Google to better understand the technology.

(Reporting by Julia Edwards; Editing by Dan Grebler)

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Holder Criticizes Apple & Google Data Encryption