Silicon Valley unites against encryption bill

Major tech firms are banding together to oppose an encryption bill that would require them to help government investigators decrypt customer data.

A coalition that includes Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter blasted the legislation as “unworkable” in a letter sent Tuesday to the bill’s backers, Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).

The bill “would weaken the very defenses we need to protect us from people who want to cause economic and physical harm,” said the letter, which was signed by the coalition, known as Reform Government Surveillance, as well as several industry trade groups.

The efforts of Burr and Feinstein, who head the Intelligence Committee, have divided the tech community and law enforcement officials.

The pair developed the legislation in response to law enforcement concerns that criminals are increasingly using encrypted technology to hide from authorities. The measure would require companies to provide “technical assistance” to investigators who cannot access this secure data on their own.

Prominent police commissioners, district attorneys and the advocacy groups that represent them have all come out in favor of the draft language released last week.

But the tech community, backed by privacy and civil liberties advocates, has vociferously opposed the legislation, arguing this type of assistance would undermine security and endanger online privacy.

“Any mandatory decryption requirement will to lead to unintended consequences," the groups wrote.

Under the bill, opponents argue, companies would be forced to intentionally design products with weaknesses so that the locked data could be easily accessed upon government request.

“When a company or user has decided to use some encryption technologies, those technologies will have to be built to allow some third party to potentially have access,” the coalition wrote. “This access could, in turn, be exploited by bad actors.” - Read More at thehill

Silicon Valley unites against encryption bill

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