Manhattan DA Slams Apple, Google for Smartphone Encryption Decision

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance criticized Apple and Google for deciding "independently and with no notice to law enforcement that I’m aware of" to give their customers control over access to their encrypted smartphones. "Apple and Google are no longer teenagers in the business world of the Internet," Vance said in an interview Monday with The Takeaway radio news program. "They are the absolute dominating mature adults with 96.4 percent of the smartphone market.” He said the companies themselves decided to "draw the line between privacy and public safety," which "also happens to fit their economic interests." Though encryption is a long-standing controversial issue, some federal, state and local law enforcement officials have stepped up calls for access to encrypted phones since the November terrorist attacks in Paris (see 1512100032 and 1511240023). Vance said he doesn't want a back door to gain access to encrypted devices but wants companies like Apple to have a digital key to unlock their own devices. "All I want Apple to do is, when a judge has determined by looking at a criminal case that there’s a need to get into this device and issues an order, that that order can be effectuated," he said. Vance said lawmakers must examine the issue and strike a balance between privacy and public safety. He said he's not talking about bulk telephone data collection or scooping up information on millions of people, referring to federal snooping programs (see 1511300028). “Every phone that we seek to open is done by an individual, separate presentation of facts to a judge. It’s very much retail law enforcement investigation,” he said.