The Government Wants Access to Smartphones. What You Should Know

By Published on December 15, 2015

“We’re not at war — we care about the same things,” FBI Director James Comey says of the struggle between the U.S. and the tech sector over how private your smartphone should be.

The government wants to work with companies such as Apple Inc. and Google to stop criminals and terrorists from exploiting the encryption technology built into some smartphone operating systems, Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, echoing President Barack Obama’s call to action. U.S. officials warn it can be used to conceal evidence or plots, as it may have in the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, and want a way to crack a phone when they believe it holds vital information.

The industry says encryption and other barriers are there to protect your personal data from falling into the hands of hackers or snoops — or, some say, the government itself.

“Weakening security with the aim of advancing security simply does not make sense,” the Information Technology Industry Council, which represents 62 of the largest tech companies in the world, said in a statement.

 

Read the article “The Government Wants Access to Smartphones. What You Should Know” on bloomberg.com.

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