---
date: '2020-03-12'
title: 'FBI Director Chris Wray Pitches Weakened Encryption At A Cyber Security Conference'
description: "On May 29, 2018, the FBI promised to deliver an updated count of encrypted devices in its possession. As James Comey and his replacement, Chris Wray, continued to advocate for weakened encryption, the number of phones the FBI couldn't get into swelled from 880 in 2016 to over 7,800 by the time the FBI realized its phone-counting method was broken."
tags: ['politics', 'privacy', 'security']
---

**[Techdirt:](https://www.techdirt.com/2020/03/12/fbi-director-chris-wray-pitches-weakened-encryption-cyber-security-conference)**

> On May 29, 2018, the FBI promised to deliver an updated count of encrypted devices in its possession. As James Comey and his replacement, Chris Wray, continued to advocate for weakened encryption, the number of phones the FBI couldn't get into swelled from 880 in 2016 to over 7,800 by the time the FBI realized its phone-counting method was broken.<!-- excerpt -->
