The FBI has made it pretty clear they are not happy with Apple (News - Alert) and Google’s latest encryption initiatives. Both of these technology titans have started creating forms of smartphone encryption that it makes it almost impossible for law enforcement officials to gain access to the information saved on a device, even when officials are court ordered the proper search warrants.

The latest Apple update, iOS 8, is so secure that Apple can’t even unlock devices for police. While many users have already downloaded iOS 8 on their iPhones and iPads, Google (News - Alert) has taken a slower approach to implementing its encryption initiatives. 

FBI Director James B. Comey has strong words to share about Apple and Google’s latest technology.  According to the Washington Post Comey stated, “There will come a day when it will matter a great deal to the lives of people . . . that we will be able to gain access” to such devices, Comey told reporters in a briefing. “I want to have that conversation [with companies responsible] before that day comes.”

Apple states on its website that, “Unlike our competitors, Apple cannot bypass your passcode and therefore cannot access this data. So it's not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants for the extraction of this data from devices in their possession running iOS 8.” Yet, Apple and Google have refused to comment on the FBI’s current concerns.

The ability to search a users phone have cracked many troubling cases, like child pornography and attempted terrorist attacks. For detectives sometimes gaining a warrant to search a smartphone brings all the pieces of the puzzle together.

Not only is this issues being brought to a federal level, local police departments are frustrated with these security changes as well, John J. Escalante, chief of detectives for Chicago’s police department was equally as outraged stating, “Apple will become the phone of choice for the pedophile, the average pedophile at this point is probably thinking, I’ve got to get an Apple phone.”

In this digital age, people’s smartphones are the key to their entire lives. From text messages to photos, smartphones have the ability to document every moment of a person’s day. Privacy concerns have been a constant issue for smartphone users, and while there has to be a line drawn to protect users privacy, there needs to be a middle ground for the law.