Attorney General William Barr blasted tech companies for deploying end-to-end encryption and called for tech companies to redesign apps to allow the government to access encrypted data. Speaking at the Fordham University Law School International Cyber Security conference, Barr criticized the growth of encrypted messaging apps for creating “law-free zones insulated from legitimate scrutiny.” The attorney general cited a handful of examples where he claimed end-to-end encryption had thwarted U.S. law enforcement. In one case, Barr claimed, federal law enforcement was unable to warn Mexican authorities in real-time after investigators found a Mexican cartel using WhatsApp for coordinating the murders of Mexican police. “Had we been able to get access to the chat room on a timely basis, we could have saved lives,” he said. Barr also said that foreign fentanyl traffickers have been using end-to-end encrypted apps to coordinate opioid smuggling into the U.S. and warned that, because of new encryption apps, “the prospect of successfully prosecuting the drug war by traditional law enforcement means are dim.”
