FBI Director James Comey recently gave a speech about encryption and privacy, and he repeated his argument that “absolute privacy” hampers law enforcement. But in an an offhand remark during the Q&A session at Kenyon College something caught the attention of privacy activists:
Comey admits he puts a piece of tape over the webcam lens on his laptop #KenyonCSAD
— The Kenyon Collegian (@KenyonCollegian) April 7, 2016
Is his admission (which is contained in the answer to the question posed at 1:23:04 mark in this video – the statement is at 1:25:58) was in response to a question about growing public awareness of the ways technology can spy on people, and he acknowledged sharing in the surveillance anxiety.
“I saw something in the news, so I copied it. I put a piece of tape — I have obviously a laptop, personal laptop — I put a piece of tape over the camera. Because I saw somebody smarter than I am had a piece of tape over their camera.”
In a world where the FBI has already used malware to hack into cameras to spy on targets, it’s not unreasonable to be concerned about privacy – such a high-profile person as the FBI director would certainly have cause for concern that they would be a target for hackers and other nation states.
The real issue for many privacy activists, is what they see this as pure hypocrisy on Comey’s part. He has said that tech companies shouldn’t make devices that are “unhackable” to law enforcement (the fight over the San Bernardino Terrorist’s iPhone 5C being the most high profile case in point), but the activists say that’s exactly what he’s done with his personal webcam.
Comey’s camera is now ‘unhackable’ – even through the use of a piece of tape.
Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist and a senior policy analyst with the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, accused Comey of having a double standard for his own privacy:
The FBI argues it should be able to hack your webcam with a warrant, while the FBI director covers his own to thwart surveillance. America.
— Christopher Soghoian (@csoghoian) April 7, 2016
While it should be noted that Comey made the remark about his webcam in the context of a larger comment about the need for the public to keep an eye on how government uses its surveillance powers.
“[The public should] demand to know how the government conducts surveillance. Demand to know how they’re overseen, how they’re constrained. Demand to know how these devices work,”
However, as the San Bernardino iPhone legal battle made clear, the debate about privacy vs surveillance in the U.S. is no longer purely about legal processes and judicial oversight. It’s distilled down to whether unhackable devices should even be allowed to exist. Govt. seems to think that unhackable devices should NOT exist, warrant or no warrant.
As we already mentioned a taped-over webcam is about as unhackable as a device can get.