aGameOfThrones
11-26-2014, 12:17 PM
Federal law enforcement might not be having much success pushing for laws that require a security backdoor on your phone, but that doesn't mean it's out of options. Judges (including one who published an opinion on a New York fraud case) have been leaning on the All Writs Act, a 1789 law granting courts power to carry out their duties, to compel phone makers to provide "reasonable technical assistance" in unlocking devices. Theoretically, this could force vendors to help decrypt phones when they'd otherwise say they couldn't.
Of course, theory and practice are two different things. Both Android (as of Lollipop) and iOS have encryption that they say is impossible to break unless the device owner supplies the password, which they don't keep. A court may require Apple, Samsung or other companies to take a look, but that doesn't mean they'll have any success -- in the New York case, the phone in question is still locked. The opinion in that trial could carry weight with other judges, however, and there's a concern that their definition of "reasonable" may not accept current technical limitations.
http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/26/courts-use-old-law-to-tackle-encryption/
Of course, theory and practice are two different things. Both Android (as of Lollipop) and iOS have encryption that they say is impossible to break unless the device owner supplies the password, which they don't keep. A court may require Apple, Samsung or other companies to take a look, but that doesn't mean they'll have any success -- in the New York case, the phone in question is still locked. The opinion in that trial could carry weight with other judges, however, and there's a concern that their definition of "reasonable" may not accept current technical limitations.
http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/26/courts-use-old-law-to-tackle-encryption/