Manhattan District Attorney speaks out against default device encryption

Device-makers should be required to give law enforcement access to users' data, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said earlier this week.

During a keynote speech at a New York cybersecurity conference, Vance said he was going “rogue” by speaking out on default encryption, Bloomberg reported. He pointed his remarks at Apple and Google, who both designed their new devices with automatic encryption. The companies cannot access user data for law enforcement, they said.

Vance said the actions of these companies prevent police from stopping crimes against children and hinder murder investigations.

Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey has previously given speeches in which he offered similar warnings. In November he said the automatic encryption was leading Americans to a place that, “we shouldn't go to without careful thought and debate as a country.”