The new encryption policies of Apple and Google have made it harder to protect people from crime.
So does the 4th Amendment. And the 2nd Amendment.
Nobody ever said that Freedom is Free. In fact, wasn't that one of the DoD's recruiting slogans or something? "Freedom isn't Free". "The Liberty Tree must be watered with the blood of free men".
This op-ed clearly comes down on the side of a police state. That's a bad outcome for all concerned. Police states always have a bloody end, but they have a bloody middle as well.
Interesting that the article doesn't mention whether they made any attempt to crack the PIN/password. Android uses the screen lock PIN/password for encryption (unless you root the device and change it), so I would expect it to be crackable at some moderate cost in most cases. I'm not sure what Apple does.
You shouldn't expect anyone who wants to end private access to encryption to actually tell anyone that they _can_ get past the encryption with a bit of effort and more work than simply booting the phone.
The focus of this story is the government's desire to end private encryption and their push to make you believe that that encryption somehow renders them completely them helpless. This article falls in the same category as W. R. Hearst's rants about the Spanish in the 1890's and the US Federal Bureau of Narcotics's Reefer Madness dis-information campaign from the 30's.
All three of these PR campaigns are based in Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. The Spanish-American War and America's war on marijuana were both generated for someone's self-interest and nothing more.
The anti-encryption movement is just another heaping helping of FUD bullshit. Except this time it shaking down into a situation where governments are afraid of your ability to have a truly private conversation with another individual.
Any government that feels it should fears its citizens has a good reason to be fearful. Guilt.
