BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) — The new president of the Illinois State’s Attorneys Association says he wants to shine a spotlight on issues including the encryption of data on smartphones.

St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly tells the Belleville News-Democrat that encryption, or “going dark,” poses a problem for investigators seeking evidence on the mobile devices of suspects.

Kelly says even with a search warrant, criminal investigators can’t access text messages, videos and other smartphone data without passwords to unlock some operating systems.

Kelly says people “live on their smartphones now and the bad guys are no different.”

He says prosecutors must work with federal regulators and industry leaders to find a solution.
Kelly says his other priorities are sexual assault investigation reform and public official ethics training.