Attorney General William Barr renewed the longstanding feud between law enforcement and tech companies over the issue of encryption on Tuesday, arguing that companies are jeopardizing authorities’ ability to prevent major crimes.
Speaking at Fordham University’s International Conference on Cyber Security, Barr said it was “dangerous” and “unacceptable” that tech companies’ use of encryption to keep users’ data safe from hackers and foreign governments is impeding law enforcement’s ability to access communications after a warrant has been issued.
“By enabling dangerous criminals to cloak their communications and activities behind an essentially impenetrable digital shield, the deployment of warrant-proof encryption is already imposing huge costs on society,” Barr said.
