Dive Brief:

• Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. urged Congress to pass a law requiring tech companies to design smartphone operating systems so law enforcement can unlock data stored on them.
• Vance wants tech companies to incorporate weaker encryption standards than currently used.
• Many smartphone makers have made strong encryption the default setting on their devices in the last few years.

Dive Insight:

Vance says strong encryption by smartphone manufacturers have had a “severe” impact on public safety.  

Law enforcement agencies claim new models of Apple iPhones and phones based on Google's Android operating system cannot be accessed even with a search warrant due to tight encryption standards.

Vance said a new federal law to allow access for law enforcement “would require, simply, that designers and makers of operating systems not design or build them to be impregnable to lawful governmental searches,” he said.

The dispute over cell phone data encryption surged after last week’s Paris attacks.