The FBI’s investigation into the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump has highlighted the challenges of accessing encrypted data, sparking renewed debate over digital privacy. FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed at a recent hearing that while the bureau accessed some content from suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks’s devices, encryption remains a significant barrier.
Wray described the difficulties posed by encrypted platforms like Signal, WhatsApp, and Proton Mail, which secure communications so only the sender and recipient can read them. “The FBI complains about going dark. When you look at the statistics on how often they intercept communications, this is the golden age of surveillance,” remarked Greg Nojeim, a lawyer at the Center for Democracy and Technology, during a virtual meeting hosted by Demand Progress.
Wray explained that accessing Crooks’s phone was a technical challenge, compounded by encryption. “We have been able to get into and exploit a number of electronic devices, digital devices but not all of them yet,” Wray stated. “Some of them we may never get access to because of the encryption issue.”
FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate briefed lawmakers that the FBI had initiated a “legal process” with 30 companies and was awaiting responses from 18, including encrypted platforms, as part of the Crooks investigation.
Hajar Hammado, a senior policy adviser at Demand Progress, voiced concerns over the FBI’s attempts to undermine encryption. “Given the FBI’s long history of working to undermine end-to-end encryption, it’s very likely they will ask the next president to help them do it,” Hammado told the Washington Examiner.
Former Rep. Bob Goodlatte, who participated in the privacy meeting, referenced the 2015 San Bernardino shooting where the FBI sought Apple’s help to unlock an iPhone. Apple resisted, but the FBI eventually accessed the phone through Azimuth Security. For Crooks’s case, the FBI used software from Cellebrite, an Israeli firm.
Noah Chauvin, a law professor at Widener University, noted law enforcement’s persistent efforts to pressure encryption platforms to create backdoors for government access. Goodlatte warned that backdoors could lead to security vulnerabilities, exposing data to foreign adversaries and criminals.
The privacy advocates discussed legislative measures to safeguard encryption, including an amendment by Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) to prevent FBI funding for efforts to undermine encryption. Davidson’s amendment, part of a congressional appropriations bill, will be considered after the August recess.
As Congress prepares to address these issues, the debate over digital privacy and law enforcement’s access to encrypted data is set to continue, with significant implications for both privacy and security.