Law Officials Pushing For Encryption Legislation, Call It An Issue Of Victims' Rights
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Law enforcement and crime victims want Congress to help authorities gain access to cellphones with potential evidence.
Calling it an issue of victims' rights, the Manhattan district attorney says it's crucial that Congress pass legislation requiring tech companies to give law enforcement a way to access information on encrypted phones and other devices.
Cyrus Vance Jr. says that while federal law enforcement tends to focus on the national security implications of locked phones, the ramifications go far beyond that.
Vance said his office currently has 230 locked phones involved in cases, 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reports.
Brittney Mills, a woman who was murdered in Louisiana while eight months pregnant, is believed to have kept a diary on her cellphone. After she was killed, authorities wanted to access the phone, but its encrypted.
No suspect has been identified and the phone is the key piece of evidence, CBS2's Brian Conybeare reported.
"It hurts us every day to know that the identity of my sister's killer remains silent in an evidence room," Tia Mills, the victim's sister, told WCBS 880's Peter Haskell.
"We won't have any peace, we won't have any closure until Brittney's killers are caught," Barbara Mills, the victim's mother, said.
On Monday, Barbara Mills was on the steps of New York City Hall with Vance and crime victims' advocates to urge companies to help investigators unlock her daughter's encrypted cellphone.
"We cannot access the phone because Apple has upgraded its operating system to make that access, even with a court order, impossible," Vance said.
Tech companies such as Apple and Google say that creating so-called "back doors'' that could be used to break phones would undermine security for everyone.
"Americans have a right to privacy. I want my right to privacy and so do you. But crime victims and surviving family members have rights too," Vance said.
Vance wants a new law requiring tech companies to comply with search warrants.
Apple did not immediately comment on this specific case, but the company argues that it's customers' privacy and data security are their top priorities and creating software to access locked iPhones could open all users to hackers and data thieves.
The debate over encryption made headlines in the San Bernadino terror attacks. But the district attorney showed a map of other cases in New York and across the country, involving a wide range of crimes. The NYPD is joining the fight to urge Congress to force tech companies to comply with court orders.
"There are thousands of victims of murder, child pornography, kidnapping and other serious crimes where key evidence is locked up and beyond the reach of law enforcement," NYPD Chief of Intelligence Thomas Galati NYPD Chief told CBS2's Conybeare.
"All we ask is a simple thing, help them find out who did this," Barbara Mills said.
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