FBI Repeatedly Overstated Encryption Threat Figures to Congress & Public

The FBI has repeatedly provided grossly inflated statistics to Congress and the public about the extent of problems posed by encrypted cellphones, claiming investigators were locked out of nearly 7,800 devices connected to crimes last year when the correct number was much smaller, probably between 1,000 and 2,000, The Washington Post (May 22, 2018) has learned.

Over a period of seven months, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray cited the inflated figure as the most compelling evidence for the need to address what the FBI calls “Going Dark” — the spread of encrypted software that can block investigators’ access to digital data even with a court order.

The FBI’s assertion that 7,775 phones could not be opened by their investigators last year has always struck a discordant note with critics and privacy advocates, who noted that just a year earlier, the FBI had claimed the figure was 880. Such a giant leap in locked phones could not be explained by changes in technology or criminal behavior, those critics reasoned.

Lawmakers have tried unsuccessfully to get more details about the FBI’s claims.
--

"Going Dark" claims from law enforcement are complete B.S. and always have been. Encryption prevents mass-surveillance, and prevents witch hunts where the government is looking for a crime where there is no good evidence that one exists (the actions of a police state); but it is much less effective in preventing law enforcement from investigating an actual crime (good police work).