FBI director: Agency, tech companies 'having pretty good private conversations' about privacy

Earlier this year, Apple and the FBI battled over privacy issues surrounding the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino, Calif., shooters. Now the FBI's director says the agency is discussing privacy and encryption with numerous technology companies, according to The Wall Street Journal.

"[W]e are moving to a place where wide swaths of American life are absolutely private," FBI Director James Comey said, according to the report. "This is a different way to live. The FBI should not tell people what the answer is. Neither should companies. We have to have a conversation in this country about where we want to be."

Although the report didn't reveal which companies the FBI is talking to, Mr. Comey said the groups "are having pretty good private conversations right now."

Meanwhile, the agency has gathered statistics regarding how encryption affects its investigations. Mr. Comey said between October 2015 and March 2015, approximately 4,000 devices were uncovered in relation to FBI cases. Five hundred of the devices couldn't be unlocked or opened, according to the report.

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