FBI director disingenuous or ignorant to criticize smartphone encryption

FBI chief James Comey criticized Apple and Google this week for new encryption added to their latest smartphone product offerings, declaring “he could not understand why companies would 'market something expressly to allow people to place themselves beyond the law.'”

That statement is either a) utterly disingenuous or b) so ignorant and wrong-headed that it calls into question the man's competence to perform his job.

Apple and Google aren't trying to thwart cops. Cops are exploiting security flaws that leave consumers open to identity theft, stalking and other third-party access to their data. And Director Comey would prefer to put consumers' data and finances at risk than make his agents work a little harder to prove their cases.

Bruce Schneier summed up the conundrum thusly in a recent post: "We have one infrastructure. We can't choose a world where the US gets to spy and the Chinese don't. We get to choose a world where everyone can spy, or a world where no one can spy. We can be secure from everyone, or vulnerable to anyone. And I'm tired of us choosing surveillance over security."

Today, smart phones are increasingly used directly for commerce; e.g., you can pay for your coffee at Starbucks with a smartphone app. And many people have data on their phones they need to secure for reasons that have nothing to do with law enforcement - e.g., an attorney with confidential client information, a doctor accessing personal medical data, or a defense contractor worried about cyber-sleuthing by the Chinese.

You'd think the FBI director would applaud these companies for making personal information more secure from hackers and thieves. That he's adopted this stance instead makes me think Mr. Comey cares less about the public's security than preserving his own agency's power, and that we probably need a different FBI director.