Federal appeals court judges asked prosecutors on Tuesday why a lower court could seal a ruling that absolved Facebook from having to wiretap a criminal suspect using one of the company’s encrypted services.
Although almost all of that case has been hidden from view, Reuters reported in 2018 that it turned on whether the Wiretap Act, which requires phone companies to help police listen to calls, could also be used to make Facebook break the end-to-end encryption that protects voice calls placed over Facebook Messenger.
“To the extent legal analysis does not implicate the details of the government investigation… I have some trouble understanding why that shouldn’t be made public,” appeals Judge Margaret McKeown told Meisler.Internet companies are treated differently than phone companies under the law, though Justice Department leaders and some members of Congress have been pushing for new laws restricting strong encryption.