FBI director warns against cellphone encryption

WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director James Comey warned in stark terms today against the push by technology companies to encrypt smartphone data and operating systems, arguing that murder cases could be stalled, suspects could walk free and justice could be thwarted by a locked phone or an encrypted hard drive.

Privacy advocates called the concerns exaggerated and little more than recycled arguments the government has raised against encryption since the early 1990s.

Likening encrypted data to a safe that cannot be cracked or a closet door that won't open, Comey said the move by tech companies to protect communications in the name of privacy risks impeding a wide range of criminal investigations.

"We have the legal authority to intercept and access communications from information pursuant to court order, but we often lack the technical ability to do so," Comey said in a Brookings Institution speech.

The speech, which echoes concerns he and others in law enforcement have previously made, comes soon after announcement by Apple and Google that their new operating systems will be encrypted, or protected by coding.

While the companies' actions are understandable, Comey said, "the place they are leading us is one we shouldn't go to without careful thought and debate."