Apple's encryption to slow, not stop, snooping by cops, spies

While the newest Apple and Google smartphones will automatically encrypt data stored on them, that won't keep U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies from obtaining evidence linked to the devices.

Marketing by the two companies in which they pledge to shield photos, documents, contact lists and other data from the prying eyes of government or hackers won plaudits from privacy advocates. It also drew condemnation from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and others who say it will make it harder to investigate crimes.

Those assertions "are wildly exaggerated" because police can still obtain evidence through traditional court warrants while revelations about government spying show the National Security Agency can break or bypass encryption for terrorism investigations, said Jonathan Turley, a constitutional-law professor at the George Washington University Law School.

"Citizens should not assume that these encryption devices will necessarily prevent government from intercepting communications," Turley said in a phone interview. "If history is any guide, the government will find a way to penetrate these devices."

Apple, Google and other companies have been trying to restore their reputations after revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that they cooperated with government spying programs in the past.

The companies announced that their new phones will automatically scramble data so that a digital key kept by the owner is needed to unlock it, making it harder for detectives to examine the content of suspects' phones without their knowledge or cooperation. Previously, such encryption was an option with a time-consuming process to activate.

"There will be crimes that people get away with because this information is not available," said Stewart Baker, a former general counsel for the NSA and now a partner at the law firm Steptoe & Johnson in Washington.

Many traditional investigative methods will still work, he said. "Wiretaps would still work. You can also get call-details records," he said. "That's available from the phone companies and it's not affected by this decision."

Anything sent from or to the devices can still be captured and investigators can hack software to collect evidence. That means there will likely be little change in the way text messages, e-mails, phone calls, location coordinates and other data are mined for terrorist communications and other threats.