New encryption on Google and Apple phones makes i𓆉t impossible for even the manufacturers to retrieve data from them without the user’s password, officials warned on Wednesday.
“They have designed their devices to be unable to comply with criminal investigations,” said Manhattan DA Cꦬyrus Vance Jr.
“We have 111 cases where we cannot access iPhones because of new encryptions . . . 111 victims who are waiting for justice because we cannot get access to cellphones,” Vance said at the sixth annual Financial Crimes and Cybersecurity Symposium at the Federal Reserve Bank of N🍸ew York.
“Every time one of 𒅌those trails leads to an encrypted cellphoneౠ, it goes cold.”
Vance proposed a federal law that “makes smartphones amenable to searches,” ensuri🌼ng that the phones can be unlocked “by a designer of the operating system when they are served with a search warrant.”
He insisted that the government does not want direct access to the phones, but only to make sure that thꦆe data can be retrieved if necessaꦇry.
Vance said the Paris attacks — which took law enforcement by surprise — highlighted the importance of inte꧃lligence gathering.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said there w𝓀as a “clash of values” pitting public safety against the right to privacy that needs to be addressed.
“The district attorney’s initiative could not be coming at a better time as we sort through thatꦇ clash of values,” he said.
“This isn’t just about terrorism. This is about dealing with day✃-to-day crime.”
ISIS, he said, 🌞has mastered the use of secure social-media communication.
FBI Director J�ꦕ�ames Comey echoed the importance of changing the laws on full encryption in order to fight ISIS.
🧸“In the US, they are recruiting through social media . . . If they get a live one, they move to direct messaging. We🍌 have access to that. If they find someone who might kill for them . . . they move to an app that uses full encryption. And then we lose the needle we’ve been looking for. That is the going-dark problem,” he said.
The ACLU opposed Vance’s pitch.
“This weakening will compromise the security of Americans by making thei🦄r personal information and communications more vulnerable to cyberattack an🍷d theft,” the ACLU said.