• smeg@feddit.uk
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    18 hours ago

    Can’t law enforcement already read those messages by getting a warrant to seize the suspect’s phone and attempting to break into it? Why do they suddenly need to preemptively break into everyone’s phone?

    • SleafordMod@feddit.uk
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      5 hours ago

      I guess I think of it like bugging a phone. The technology for bugging phones has been around for a long time, but that doesn’t mean the authorities are bugging everybody’s phones all the time. Even if they can theoretically listen to everyone’s conversations, that doesn’t mean they are always listening. There would be too many conversations to listen to.

      • smeg@feddit.uk
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        5 hours ago

        Bugging a phone involves applying the bug to one phone, right? Backdooring encryption is bugging everyone’s phone in advance and then hoping that the bug only ever gets used lawfully.

        Also as computing power increases then it becomes more plausible to actually process all of everyone’s messages. Maybe they start by automatically flagging certain words, then if you’re detected using them you’re automatically flagged and a warrant issued to read everything you’ve ever said.

        • SleafordMod@feddit.uk
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          5 hours ago

          Maybe I should read more about encryption. I was thinking maybe a company like Apple could just keep the encryption keys stored somewhere. So if needed they could decrypt particular messages. There could be big punishments, prison time, for anybody within Apple who decrypts messages without a court warrant.