It's called "Going Dark" and it's something law enforcement across the country and here in Tennessee are getting more and more worried about.
With new security measures, major tech companies are encrypting the data on your cell phone to keep hackers out. Yet, Thursday, the TBI said the updates are also shutting them out so they can't use the technology during an investigation
"I'm telling everybody that I can tell that if we don't do something about this something bad, tragic is going to happen," said TBI Director Mark Gwyn, while addressing the governor and other state officials during a budget meeting.
The encrypted data is not available without a password to a device - even if law enforcement has a warrant.
"There's gonna be a young child kidnapped, something like that and were not going to be able to get into that device, get the evidence we need to recover that child and it's going to be bad news," said Gwyn.
He mentioned ISIS using online tools to recruit. And the Paris attackers who reportedly communicated over Play Station, killing 130 people the same day FBI Director James Comey visited Nashville.
"We are all looking for needles in a nationwide haystack, sometime we find them when they become most dangerous they disappear, they become encrypted, we can't break that encryption with a court order," Comey said to reporters during his visit.
However, privacy advocates and companies like Apple and Google say encrypting your information is to help, not hurt people.
These days bank accounts, private medical information and just about everything can be accessed from your phone.
"There's no way to build a back door to a product without weakening its security for everybody," said ACLU Legislative Council Neema Singh Guliani who specializes in surveillance and security issues, "so what law enforcement may want access to may be exploited by other people."
Guliani argues that in 2015 law enforcement actually have it pretty good.
"In some ways law enforcement are operating under a golden age of surveillance. They have access to more information than ever before," she said. While encrypted data is not available, metadata still is and can provide different valuable, descriptive information during an investigation. But Gwyn says that's not enough.
"I'm constantly amazed that if there's a crime scene in a home or whatever we go we get our warrant, we analyze that crime scene, we collect the evidence. If the crime scene is a digital crime scene all the sudden we have no access to that," he said.
NewsChannel 5 also spoke with a representative of one of the world's most prominent tech companies. He asked not to be named but said there is no way to create easy access for officers without bad guys finding the way in.
He said his company tries to stay multiple steps ahead of criminals and that his company's updated security plan should actually help law enforcement since it will prevent identity thieves, hackers and other criminals from committing crimes.
