Washington ( CNN ) -- FBI Director James Comey says new encryption standards by Apple and Google will create `` a black hole for law enforcement '' that will help sophisticated criminals avoid detection . Comey is taking up the FBI 's years-long push to expand federal surveillance law to require tech companies to include a way for law enforcement to get court ordered access to data on new devices . `` The law has n't kept pace with technology , '' Comey said in remarks at the Brookings Institution . `` This disconnect has created a significant public safety problem . We call it 'going dark , ' and what it means is this : those charged with protecting our people are n't always able to access the evidence we need to prosecute crime and prevent terrorism . '' Related - FBI Director : iPhones shield pedophiles from cops . Comey says he understands privacy concerns in the wake of the disclosures of NSA surveillance by former contractor Edward Snowden . He says the government 's ability to do surveillance and what it does access is overstated . Apple and Google have started selling new operating systems for cellphones that they explicitly market as encrypted beyond the reach of law enforcement . Even with a court order the company can not let law enforcement get into the devices , unless the data is uploaded to cloud computers . `` But uploading to the cloud does n't include all of the stored data on a bad guy 's phone , which has the potential to create a black hole for law enforcement . And if the bad guys do n't back up their phones routinely or of they opt out of uploading to the cloud , the data will only be found on the encrypted devices . '' People trying to evade law enforcement are most likely to ensure their data ca n't be accessed , Comey said . `` Sophisticated criminals will come to count on these means of evading detection . It 's the equivalent of a closet that ca n't be opened . A safe that ca n't be cracked . ''
FBI Director James Comey is worried that encryption technology by Apple and Google could help criminals . Tech companies have been searching for ways to ensure users ' privacy against government surveillance .