James Comey, F.B.I. Director, Hints at Action as Cellphone Data Is Locked
Tags: 2010s Backdoors Government Access Mobile
Authors: Sanger, David E. and Apuzzo, Matt
Published: October 2014
Abstract: On October 16, 2014, David E. Sanger and Matt Apuzzo wrote for the New York Times regarding F.B.I. Director James Comey’s comments on the potential the Obama administration would seek regulations and laws forcing companies to create an encryption backdoor to unlock photos, emails and contacts stored on cellular devices. The comments came shortly following the decisions of Apple and Google to automatically encrypt the contents of their cellphones—a first among widely used consumer devices—which Comey claimed would hinder intelligence gathering. Sanger and Apuzzo cast doubt on the likelihood of such regulations, given the administration advisory committee on the N.S.A.’s recent recommendation against “weaken[ing] or mak[ing] vulnerable generally available commercial software.”