Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. sounded a battle cry Sunday, calling on law-enforcement agencies to battle Apple and Google over software that makes it impossible for authorities to “decrypt” cellphones seized in criminal investigations.
The recently rolled-out “upgrades” haven’t attracted much general attention, which means police must start pressing elected officials to roll back the terrorist-friendly software, he said.
“Apple has created a phone that is dark, that cannot be accessed by law enforcement even when a court has authorized us to look at its contents,” Vance warned on “The Cats Roundtable” show on WNYM/970 AM.
“That’s going to be the terrorists’ communication device of choice.”
Google is also introducing software for its Android phones that police and prosecutors will be unable to trace.
Combined, the tech giants make up about 96 percent of the world cellphone market.
When it was launched Sept. 17, the Apple mobile operating system, iOS 8, drew criticism from several top law-enforcement officials, including US Attorney General Eric Holder and NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton.
“It does a terrible disservice to the public, ultimately, and to law enforcement, initially,” Bratton said at the time.
“For them to consciously, for profit and gain, to thwart those legal constitutional efforts, shame on them.”
Apple and Google have defended their products, admitting consumer demand was a key consideration.
With older operating systems, the companies could “unlock” cellphone data at the request of law enforcement. With the new ones, only the phone owner can.
“For all devices running iOS 8.0 and later versions, Apple will not perform iOS data extractions in response to government search warrants because the files to be extracted are protected by an encryption key that is tied to the user’s passcode, which Apple does not possess,” the company states on its Web site.
Vance said Apple and Google are playing with people’s safety.
“It’s going to affect our ability to protect New Yorkers,” he told the show’s host, former mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis.
“It’s also going to have national-security implications because a device that cannot be accessed by judicial warrant can be used by homegrown violent extremists and terrorists to communicate with each other.”
Vance urged law-enforcement leaders to lobby politicians.
“We need to get their [elected officials’] support to hold hearings on this issue,” Vance said.