FBI director calls for greater police access to communications

Comey said he hasn't thought through all the international implications. "I can imagine them saying, 'we as an American domiciled corporation, will comply with ... requests from the U.S. government in connection with lawful investigations,'" he said. "Where we may get is to a place where the U.S., through its Congress says, 'we need to force this on American companies,' and maybe they will take a hit."

Even as the FBI worries about going dark, many Internet and electronic device users are concerned about "going bright," said Cameron Kerry, a former general counsel and acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce. "There's a tremendous amount of digital information that is available to companies and to governments," said Kerry, now a visiting fellow at Brookings.

U.S. policy on access to digital information could drive international norms, Kerry said. "If we go down this road and take steps that would break encryption, what is the impact on more repressive countries around the world that will follow that example" he said.

Comey's speech also drove an active debate on TwitterTwitter. "I oppose requiring companies to build back doors into their products," tweeted Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Republican. Alles zu Twitter auf CIO.de

Comey gave examples of four investigations, including a child sex abuse case and a child murder, in which he said information from smartphones was significant in getting convictions. If encryption is standard on smartphones, those convictions would be much more difficult, he said.