Apple and Google smartphones that are inaccessible to law enforcement even when a warrant has been obtained will help terrorists and other criminals get away with crime and make Americans less safe, says Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr.
"The implication of this is that it’s going to affect our ability to protect New Yorkers,"
Vance said Sunday on "The Cats Roundtable" on AM 970 in New York.
"It’s also going to have national security implications because a device that cannot be accessed by judicial warrant can be used by home-grown violent extremists and terrorists to communicate with each other to send … messages without law enforcement being able to identify what they’re saying."
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Vance criticized the "unilateral decision" by Apple to make the devices inaccessible. Google has announced it will do the same on it's Android devices.
"Together, Apple’s and Google’s phones comprise 96.4 percent of the world market for cell phones," Vance told host John Catsimatidis. "[They are] the terrorists’ communications device of choice."
Vance said phones also will have serious implications for many other crimes, including sex crimes, larceny, forgery and cyber crimes.
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