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Why does a new report say law enforcement’s complaints about data encryption are overblown?

Answer: because often the data is still accessible

A new Harvard University report investigated recent claims by law enforcement that encryption services powered by Google and Apple mobile operating systems were making it increasingly difficult to access data in some investigations. And while in some cases this is true, the report states, encryption is far from being the criminal’s secret weapon. Data in transit that doesn’t use end-to-end encryption can be legally intercepted in some circumstances — and all software systems contain gaps that could allow alternative avenues of investigation, according to the report.

Some politicians have suggested that laws be created to enable encryption backdoors that can be opened by warrant holders, but the report states that such efforts are futile: “Short of a form of government intervention in technology that appears contemplated by no one outside of the most despotic regimes, communication channels resistant to surveillance will always exist."

The report concludes that claims of being shut out from the data by the popularization of encryption — “going dark,” as it’s called by some — are not an accurate representation of what’s happening in technology today.