That argument struck some as disingenuous. Certainly encrypted communications made it hard to intercept conversations that had previously taken place in the clear. But this ignored the flood of new, Internet-enabled technologies that had given rise to—as more than a few technologists noted—the “golden age of surveillance.” In a world in which one’s car and lost luggage could be tracked electronically, where a Fitbit broadcasts the wearer’s location and people’s watches are connected to the Internet—life is a lot easier for investigators. As one FBI investigator admitted to me: “If you put us
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