Recent news that both Android and Google will provide default smart device encryption that even they can't bypass excited most tech and privacy enthusiasts, but as expected, the FBI still isn't happy with the decision, and today, FBI Director James Comey suggested that Congress should pass a law banning the use of default encryption, according to Brookings.
"Encryption isn't just a technical feature; it's a marketing pitch ... it's the equivalent of a closet that can't be opened. A safe that can't be cracked. And my question is, at what cost?" Comey said during a speech at the Brookings Institution. "Both companies are run by good people, responding to what they perceive is a market demand. But the place they are leading us is one we shouldn't go to without careful thought and debate."
Comey referred to the default encryption technique as "going dark" and stressed that he believes, because no one can unlock the smart devices except the owner, it will allow criminals to elude capture and justice.
"With Going Dark, those of us in law enforcement and public safety have a major fear of missing out-missing out on predators who exploit the most vulnerable among us ... kids call this FOMO," he said, Motherboard reports.
Instead, Comey believes that law enforcement should always have a way to access devices after obtaining a court order - as he said, companies should be "developing [law enforcement] intercept solutions during the design phase."
"Congress might have to force this on companies," he said. "Maybe they'll take the hint and do it themselves."
Default encryption threatens the current means of information gathering achieved by intelligence services, and Comey thinks that such a real-time interception threat could "lead us to a very dark place," essentially because it would make it much more difficult for the FBI to access devices and obtain data at will.
"Perhaps it's time to suggest that the post-Snowden pendulum has swung too far in one direction-in a direction of fear and mistrust," Comey continued. "It might be time to ask: Where are we, as a society? Are we no longer a country governed by the rule of law, where no one is above or beyond that law? Are we so mistrustful of government - and of law enforcement - that we are willing to let bad guys walk away?"
