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FBI Couldn't Access Nearly 7,000 Devices Because of Encryption (foxbusiness.com)
Michael Balsamo, writing for Associated Press: The FBI hasn't been able to retrieve data from more than half of the mobile devices it tried to access in less than a year, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Sunday, turning up the heat on a debate between technology companies and law enforcement officials trying to recover encrypted communications. In the first 11 months of the fiscal year, federal agents were unable to access the content of more than 6,900 mobile devices, Wray said in a speech at the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Philadelphia. "To put it mildly, this is a huge, huge problem," Wray said. "It impacts investigations across the board -- narcotics, human trafficking, counterterrorism, counterintelligence, gangs, organized crime, child exploitation." The FBI and other law enforcement officials have long complained about being unable to unlock and recover evidence from cellphones and other devices seized from suspects even if they have a warrant, while technology companies have insisted they must protect customers' digital privacy.
Or, they're saying that they can't access these devices to lull criminals into a false sense of complacency.
Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
On how many of those devices did they have a warrant to even try to access them?
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
no different than print unlocks. You can be compelled to give your print (face) so just turn it off.
What I wish is that there was a stock way to program a panic print, such that you enter that print and the phone locks requiring a PIN to unlock. Set your middle finger to be the panic print and when you pull your phone out of your pocket near a risk situation just touch the sensor on the way out. A distinct vibrate could let you know it took.
whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
My thoughts exactly. The State does not have, nor ever had, unlimited authority over information, specifically MY information. To say that this is a problem is to cast it as a negative. It is not.
Does anyone have a list of devices the FBI can't decrypt? I'd like to make sure my next phone is one on the list, but I'm not sure which Android devices pass that test.
I understand the need for law enforcement, but I also understand the need for personal privacy and sanctity of one's personal property (home, things, so on).
I understand if I drop a cigarette or cigar butt or even a soda cap that it might have my DNA or fingerprints on it. I know that my cell phone might radiate identifying information about me.
My point is this:
The line between what the government can legally pry into and what requires a search warrant has always been and will forever be "blurry" in the USA.
I would rather the laws err on being more cautious and protective of people's rights rather than making everyone's life an open book for law enforcement.
Ok. Some /. snark is going to come along and say, "Think about the children?" or the "Think about those slave of human-trafficing".
Yeah, I get that and all, but would you rather be considered "guilty before being proven innocent"? Seriously think about that. Thrown into jail without a phone call or chance to contact anyone outside to fight on your behalf. In some countries that is called "disappearing people" and those people are never seen or heard from again. Do you really want that fate hanging over your head for the slightest infraction? It can't get that serious you say? Think again, history has proven to all of us that human beings can be exceptionally cruel and uncaring towards other human beings.
So you snark and say on /. "Well I am not a human being." Ok. In that case you would not mind if someone squeezed off a few clips at you and killed you? It would probably be legal to do so if you can claim and prove you are not a human being.
All I want anyone in the USA to really really carefully consider is this:
Be very very careful of the rights that you give up to your government because you might not get them back for a long long time, if ever. And then if you do get any rights back, it may only happen after major revolutions within the country that tear it apart and leave it on "the slag heap of history".
And then where are you and your rights??
1) On iOS, pressing the power button 5 times quickly will disable biometrics and require the PIN/password/etc authentication. ("Emergency mode" it's called)
2) Face ID requires you to look at it. If you're not looking at it it will refuse to do a recognition attempt (but still count as one of the 5 tries). If you failed to do step 1 when handing over your phone, looking everywhere else (or closing your eyes) is sufficient to fail scanning. This also means pointing the phone at your face from a distance will fail it. (And as well, it will probably scan whoever's got your phone as well, reducing the count before mandatory passcode).
My favorite was when they shouted "You can't trust Kapersky! Dirty foreigners!" Yeah, more like they have the US antivirus makers in their pocket and Kapersky isn't under their control. Honestly the three letter agencies are more of a threat to me as a US citizen than any foreign intelligence.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!