U.S.
law enforcement officials are urging
Apple Inc. (AAPL) and
Google Inc. (GOOG) to give authorities access to smartphone data that the companies have decided to block, and are weighing whether to appeal to executives or seek congressional legislation.
The new privacy features, announced two weeks ago by the California-based companies, will stymie investigations into crimes ranging from drug dealing to terrorism, law enforcement officials said.
“This is a very bad idea,” said
Cathy Lanier, chief of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, in an interview.
Smartphone communication is “going to be the preferred method of the pedophile and the criminal. We are going to lose a lot of investigative opportunities.”
