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U.S. Law Enforcement Seeks to Halt Apple-Google Encryption of Mobile Data

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Re: U.S. Law Enforcement Seeks to Halt Apple-Google Encryption of Mobile Data

#91
post #5

This is a bit like protesting door locks because they make it harder to pop in and look around.

The sections of government that care about searching people's property already have a plethora of ways to get around the supposed protections.

Re: U.S. Law Enforcement Seeks to Halt Apple-Google Encryption of Mobile Data

#92
post #66

My reply is... "What about the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution?" Would we really be having these discussions if Americans (speaking as an American here) were better-educated on our own rights, our own foundation, the very fibers of our own history? I mean, this is such a simple amendment, so crystal-clear and eloquent. After reading it (see below), how can there possibly be any doubt as to how the…

You should better educate yourself, the article is about seizure with a warrant, with which Apple and Google will no longer be able to help them.

Don't worry, though, Microsoft and their NSAKEY will be there for them.

Re: U.S. Law Enforcement Seeks to Halt Apple-Google Encryption of Mobile Data

#93
post #24
post #5

This is a bit like protesting door locks because they make it harder to pop in and look around.

I don't support what the government is trying to do here, but minimizing this issue like this is not doing us any favors. The issue isn't that law enforcement can no longer "look around" your phone. The issue is that they can no longer get a warrant and use what is on your phone as evidence in an investigation or court case without the phone owner's cooperation. Basically your phone goes from being personal property…

We should ban the ownership of non-trivial safes for the same reason then. We should also prevent people from writing things in non-approved languages, in case in makes the understanding of things more difficult when a warrant is served.

Hell, if I just hide my information in a stack of a million other paper files, that would be enough to thwart all but the most determined investigator from accessing it without my cooperation.

Re: U.S. Law Enforcement Seeks to Halt Apple-Google Encryption of Mobile Data

#94
post #24
post #5

This is a bit like protesting door locks because they make it harder to pop in and look around.

I don't support what the government is trying to do here, but minimizing this issue like this is not doing us any favors. The issue isn't that law enforcement can no longer "look around" your phone. The issue is that they can no longer get a warrant and use what is on your phone as evidence in an investigation or court case without the phone owner's cooperation. Basically your phone goes from being personal property…

Whether or not giving up a password or unlock code is protected by the 5th amendment is itself a gray area that the courts are still sorting out.

I would prefer to have the password NOT be protected by the 5th amendment and have strong encryption on phones than not have strong encryption on phones. That seems like the only way to prevent casual warrantless rummaging.

Re: U.S. Law Enforcement Seeks to Halt Apple-Google Encryption of Mobile Data

#97
"“This is a fundamental tension,” Howe said. The “balance between how much privacy you’re allowed to have and how many rights the government has” is a question that has continued historically in the U.S., he said."

Uh.. I thought I had unalienable rights as a human being, from the Creator or whatever. It's not about privacy the government "allows" me to have.

Re: U.S. Law Enforcement Seeks to Halt Apple-Google Encryption of Mobile Data

#98
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand this argument. Wouldn't law enforcement still be allowed to access phone records unecrypted if they have an actual suspect and court order?

Probably harder and takes longer than searching through a confiscated phone from a suspect.

Bingo! You can, as far as I know, confiscate and search a suspect just based on probable cause, whereas you'd need to have at least a subpoena if not a warrant to get wiretap authorization or phone records.

Re: U.S. Law Enforcement Seeks to Halt Apple-Google Encryption of Mobile Data

#99
post #46

If you support this sort of system, you are saying that individuals should be able to place themselves above democracy. Like it or not, we have a legal system that entitles the government to execute lawfully obtained warrants. Tech companies seeking to make this harder are acting against democracy. It's time for Silicon Valley to decide what side it's on: Democracy, or the alternative.

>Like it or not, we have a legal system that entitles the government to execute lawfully obtained warrants.

The same legal system also says using encryption is perfectly legal.

Re: U.S. Law Enforcement Seeks to Halt Apple-Google Encryption of Mobile Data

#100

They are going straight into "think of the children mode" " Smartphone communication is “going to be the preferred method of the pedophile and the criminal. We are going to lose a lot of investigative opportunities." Apparently "what about the terrorists?" isn't as effective anymore. Let's hope the public will see through their manipulative talking points.

Hmm sounds to me like they are trying to convince people to use their phones for illegal doings. Also, all of the comments in this thread (not this one specifically) make me wish HN threads root comments defaulted to collapsed so people might avoid duplicate root comments. Maybe...

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