Gizmodo: The FBI really, REALLY wants you to decrypt your phone

Um, no. Article by Maddie Stone for Gizmodo When Apple decided to encrypt its iPhones by default, the move was hailed as a major step forward for security. Except, of course, by the FBI, which is now saying that such encryption should be outlawed. For the safety of Americans, of course.

Um, no.

Article by Maddie Stone for Gizmodo

When Apple decided to encrypt its iPhones by default, the move was hailed as a major step forward for security. Except, of course, by the FBI, which is now saying that such encryption should be outlawed. For the safety of Americans, of course.

This past week, FBI director Jim Comey came before the House Appropriations Committee to plead for a law which would force tech companies to create a backdoor into any communications device that uses encryption. Over at The Guardian, Trevor Timm explains why the Bureau's anxiety over the idea of Americans having more secure phones is not only hypocritical, but completely misguided:

The idea that all of a sudden the FBI is "going dark" and won't be able to investigate criminals anymore thanks to a tiny improvement of cell phone security is patently absurd. Even if the phone itself is protected by a passphrase that encrypts the device, the FBI can still go to telecom companies to get all the phone metadata they want. They can also still track anyone they choose by getting a cell phone's location information 24 hours a day, and of course they can still wiretap the calls themselves. Let's not forget that with a four digit passcode - like iPhones come with by default - can easily broken into by the FBI without anyone's help anyways. So a vast majority of this debate is already moot.

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