A report from Reuters claims that the White House has declined to offer public support for a draft legislation that would allow judges to order companies like Apple to unlock encrypted devices to help law enforcement agencies.
Sources of the publication claim that while the bill says that companies will have to help the law enforcement agencies, it does not explicitly mention the circumstances and the steps they have to take to comply with the order. Thankfully, not complying with the order will not impose any penalty on the companies
The draft has been proposed by Senators Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein, and it is expected to be introduced in front of the committee this week.
Speaking at SXSW, President Obama had last month said that smartphones cannot be “black boxes” and taking an “absolutist view” on this matter will not work. He also said that having a very strong form of encryption on your smartphone “no matter what” is not the way forward. Apple has also urged the Congress to find a solution to this encryption debate.
Ever since the government ordered Apple to unlock the iPhone 5c of the San Bernardino’s shooter, encryption in smartphones have come under the spotlight. While Apple did not adhere to the government order, and the FBI eventually did manage to access the data on Farook’s iPhone 5c with the help of an Israeli company, the encryption debate on smartphones and other consumer devices is far from over.
What are your views on this matter?
[Via Reuters]
For more info on this press release visit: