FBI: There were far fewer encrypted smartphones that hindered investigations

The US intelligence agency previously said that in 2017 there were a total of 7,800 devices whose contents were untraceable due to the application of encryption. The agency now admits that this is incorrect; it is probably much less devices.

The FBI said in a statement that it made programming mistakes that caused the count of smartphones whose contents were kept out of reach due to encryption far exceeded the actual count. The service used three databases for this, counting the same phones multiple times.

According to The Washington Post, the number is likely between 1,000 and 2,000; the FBI says it is not yet able to provide an accurate number of the locked, encrypted phones received and seized as part of criminal investigations. Critics found the communicated number of 7800 already curious, given that in 2016, according to the FBI, there were only 880 cases of phones whose contents were inaccessible due to encryption. It is not clear whether that number is correct.

An FBI official previously estimated the true number to be around 1,200, but newspaper sources say that figure is likely to change based on a new internal investigation, which could take several more weeks.

Despite the wrong figure, the FBI reiterates the seriousness of the problem. According to the service, intelligence services and investigative organizations are increasingly in the dark about the communication of suspects due to the increasing use of encryption.