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Breaking: FBI Admits its Claims of “Going Dark” Were Overblown, Based on Bad Math

Tags: 2010s Going Dark OTI

Published: May 2018

URL: https://www.newamerica.org/oti/press-releases/breaking-fbi-admits-its-claims-going-dark-were-overblown-based-bad-math/

Abstract: The Open Technology Institute released a statement regarding a Washington Post report that the FBI overstated “the number of encrypted mobile devices it could not unlock in 2017.” While the FBI had previously claimed there were 7,775 such devices, the FBI later clarified that the real number was around 1,200. Kevin Bankston, the Director of New America’s Open Technology Institute, issued a statement which called for Congressional investigation into the false numbers and arguing that the FBI’s requests for backdoors should be met with skepticism.