The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation found himself in an awkward position on Wednesday when he urged American tech companies to reject their consumers’ demands.
Testifying before a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing, James Comey claimed that secure online communications have become “part of terrorist tradecraft now,” and that companies providing those services must consequently leave law-abiding customers exposed.
“It’s a business model question. Good people have made a decision to design products and sell products where court orders are ineffective,” Comey told lawmakers, implicitly referring to companies like Apple that now offer encryption as default.
“I’m not impugning their motives—I understand they see it as a competitive issue or they think it’s just the right thing to do. The question we have to ask ourselves is, is there a way to get folks to change their business model so that judges orders can be complied with,” the FBI Director added.
Although he didn’t specifically call on Congress to act, Comey did say “alternatives” must be explored should companies decide against voluntarily deciphering information.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) countered the FBI Director’s claims later in the hearing, noting that Comey’s prescriptions regarding encryption would put US companies and consumers at a tech security disadvantage compared to the rest of the world.
“Assuming Congress were to pass something requiring them to develop a backdoor,” Sen. Lee said, “Wouldn’t we still have technology companies located outside the Untied States still manufacturing devices that wouldn’t be subject to that requirement?”
Comey responded in the affirmative, saying that’s “what makes this such a big problem.”
During his testimony Wednesday, Comey also alluded to the forthcoming publication of an FBI study on how frequently federal investigations are thwarted by encrypted devices. Numerous lawmakers have requested the FBI for updates on the probe.
Without offering specifics the director claimed that the study “will show there’s a significant impact and growing across our work, both in terrorism and in criminal cases.”
