Civil Society Groups Demand Additional DOJ Probe Over ‘Going Dark’

The DOJ Inspector General should open a new investigation of the agency’s alleged misleading of Congress on encryption back doors (see 1805230027 and 1805300050), wrote the American Civil Liberties Union, Free Press, FreedomWorks, New America’s Open Technology Institute, R Street Institute, TechFreedom and about a dozen other civil society groups Monday to the IG. The probe should determine how the FBI made errors in reporting the scope of its “going dark” issue, why Justice officials knowingly cited false figures and what the department is doing to inform lawmakers, the group said. “This latest misstep, combined with the Inspector General’s conclusion that the FBI intentionally slow-rolled its efforts to unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s encrypted iPhone, makes clear that everyone should be seriously questioning the FBI’s credibility and reliability in the encryption debate,” said Open Technology Institute Policy Counsel and Government Affairs Lead Robyn Greene. The IG didn't comment.