Back when the FBI ran a cellphone company that served criminals: Planet Money : NPR

OLIVIER MOLIN/AFP Getty Images

OLIVIER MOLIN/AFP Getty Images

There’s always an arms race between law enforcement and criminals, especially when it comes to technology. For years, law enforcement has been frustrated by encrypted messaging apps like Signal and Telegram. Law enforcement has been even more frustrated by encrypted phones, which are designed specifically to thwart surveillance by authorities.

But in 2018, a story that sounds like something out of a spy novel emerged, with an invitation to the FBI: Would they get into the encrypted phone business? What if they could convince criminals to use their phones to plan and record crimes while the FBI watched? This could open up the criminal underground to unprecedented levels of activity.

To pull off this massive sting operation, the FBI needed to design a phone that criminals would want to use and adopt. Their mission: to build a technology platform for the underworld. In many ways, the FBI’s journey has all the hallmarks of a Silicon Valley startup.

In this program, we interviewed a reporter Joseph CoxWrote a new book about the FBI’s cell phone operations, saying Dark Line.We also heard from an unlikely federal prosecutor who is a tech company founder.

This episode is hosted by Nick Fountain. It was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Jess Jiang. Fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and designed by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is the executive producer of Planet Money.

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