FBI Director entreats tech firms to release encrypted data used in crimes and terror

FBI Director James Comey again implored tech companies on Tuesday to comply with court orders to reveal encrypted communications that law enforcement considers vital to solving heinous crimes and stopping terrorism.

“We’d like a world where people are able to comply with court orders,” Comey said in testimony before the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee. “It’s not about us trying to get a back door, a term that confuses me, frankly. I don’t want a door. I don’t want a window. I don’t want a sliding glass door. I would like people to comply with court orders and that’s the conversation we’re trying to have.”

Major tech firms, especially Apple, have said that decoding encrypted communications is impractical, counterproductive and sometimes impossible — especially if data is encrypted on a smartphone and can only be decrypted by the phone’s user.

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