Submission + - When phone encryption blocks justice (nytimes.com)
DaDaDaaaaa writes: The New York Times features a joint op-ed piece by prosecutors from Manhattan, Paris, London and Spain, in which the default use by Apple and Google of full disk encryption in their latest smartphone OSes (iOS 8 and Android Lollipop, respectively) is decried. They talk about the murder scene of a father of six, where an iPhone 6 and a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge were found.
"An Illinois state judge issued a warrant ordering Apple and Google to unlock the phones and share with authorities any data therein that could potentially solve the murder. Apple and Google replied, in essence, that they could not — because they did not know the user’s passcode. The homicide remains unsolved. The killer remains at large."
The case is made to push lawmakers to legislate in order to force Apple and Google to include backdoors into their smartphone operating systems. However one has to wonder about the legitimate uses of full disk encryption which can allow to protect good people from harm, or to prevent them from having their privacy needlessly intruded upon.
"An Illinois state judge issued a warrant ordering Apple and Google to unlock the phones and share with authorities any data therein that could potentially solve the murder. Apple and Google replied, in essence, that they could not — because they did not know the user’s passcode. The homicide remains unsolved. The killer remains at large."
The case is made to push lawmakers to legislate in order to force Apple and Google to include backdoors into their smartphone operating systems. However one has to wonder about the legitimate uses of full disk encryption which can allow to protect good people from harm, or to prevent them from having their privacy needlessly intruded upon.
