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Political Will for Encryption Law Has Weakened Since Apple-FBI Dispute
Support for encryption legislation in the U.S. has flatlined and the push for changes in federal law following the San Bernardino shootings has petered out, according to sources in congressional offices, the administration and the tech sector (via Reuters).
On February 16, a U.S. federal judge ordered Apple to help the FBI to unlock the iPhone owned by Syed Farook, one of the shooters in the December 2015 attacks in San Bernardino that left 14 people dead.
Senate Intelligence Committee leaders Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein.
The FBI asked Apple to create a version of iOS that would both disable passcode security features and allow passcodes to be entered electronically, allowing it to then brute force the passcode on the device.
Apple announced that it would oppose the order in an open letter penned by Tim Cook, who said the FBI's request would set a "dangerous precedent" with serious implications for the future of smartphone encryption.
Apple claimed the software the FBI asked for could serve as a "master key" able to be used to get information from any iPhone or iPad - including its most recent devices - while the FBI claimed it only wanted access to a single iPhone.
Apple's dispute with the FBI ended on March 28, after the government found an alternate way to access the data on the iPhone through the help of "professional hackers" and withdrew the lawsuit as a result.
During the controversy, a Senate Intelligence Committee encryption bill was announced by committee leaders Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein, which aimed to force companies to provide "technical assistance" to government investigators seeking locked data.
A released draft of the encryption bill in April revealed the scope of the proposed legislation, which was heavily criticized by security experts and the wider technology community, and described variously as "absurd", "technically inept", and "dangerous".
An open letter expressing "deep concerns" about the draft bill was subsequently signed by four coalitions representing Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and other major tech companies. At the same time, the White House chose not to offer public support for the legislation, and the administration remained deeply divided on the issue.
The CIA and NSA were also ambivalent, according to several current and former intelligence officials, because agency officials feared any new law would interfere with their own encryption efforts.
Now, despite Burr repeatedly insisting that legislation is imminent, no timeline exists for the bill, Democrats and Republicans on the Intelligence Committee have apparently backed away from the issue, and the political will to support its advance no longer appears to exist.
Despite the change in the political landscape, however, the FBI remains adamant that litigation over the encryption of mobile devices will continue.
In a briefing with reporters earlier this month, FBI director James Comey called encryption an "essential tradecraft" of terrorist organizations like ISIS, suggesting that the debate over whether the government can compel tech companies to unlock personal devices in the interest of national security is far from over.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
On February 16, a U.S. federal judge ordered Apple to help the FBI to unlock the iPhone owned by Syed Farook, one of the shooters in the December 2015 attacks in San Bernardino that left 14 people dead.
The FBI asked Apple to create a version of iOS that would both disable passcode security features and allow passcodes to be entered electronically, allowing it to then brute force the passcode on the device.
Apple announced that it would oppose the order in an open letter penned by Tim Cook, who said the FBI's request would set a "dangerous precedent" with serious implications for the future of smartphone encryption.
Apple claimed the software the FBI asked for could serve as a "master key" able to be used to get information from any iPhone or iPad - including its most recent devices - while the FBI claimed it only wanted access to a single iPhone.
Apple's dispute with the FBI ended on March 28, after the government found an alternate way to access the data on the iPhone through the help of "professional hackers" and withdrew the lawsuit as a result.
During the controversy, a Senate Intelligence Committee encryption bill was announced by committee leaders Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein, which aimed to force companies to provide "technical assistance" to government investigators seeking locked data.
A released draft of the encryption bill in April revealed the scope of the proposed legislation, which was heavily criticized by security experts and the wider technology community, and described variously as "absurd", "technically inept", and "dangerous".
An open letter expressing "deep concerns" about the draft bill was subsequently signed by four coalitions representing Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and other major tech companies. At the same time, the White House chose not to offer public support for the legislation, and the administration remained deeply divided on the issue.
The CIA and NSA were also ambivalent, according to several current and former intelligence officials, because agency officials feared any new law would interfere with their own encryption efforts.
Now, despite Burr repeatedly insisting that legislation is imminent, no timeline exists for the bill, Democrats and Republicans on the Intelligence Committee have apparently backed away from the issue, and the political will to support its advance no longer appears to exist.
Despite the change in the political landscape, however, the FBI remains adamant that litigation over the encryption of mobile devices will continue.
In a briefing with reporters earlier this month, FBI director James Comey called encryption an "essential tradecraft" of terrorist organizations like ISIS, suggesting that the debate over whether the government can compel tech companies to unlock personal devices in the interest of national security is far from over.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Tag: Apple-FBI
[ 86 comments ]
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42 months ago
In a briefing with reporters earlier this month, FBI director James Comey called encryption and "essential tradecraft" of terrorist organizations like ISIS
If encryption is essential tradecraft for terrorist organizations, then creating backdoors and weakening encryption in consumer electronics would have zero effect on them and only serve to weaken they security of a couple of billion people. Terrorists could, and I'm sure do, use other means to encrypt communications other than what comes out of the box in an iPhone or Android phone.
42 months ago
One of my steadfast rules in politics: I want the opposite of whatever Feinstein wants.
42 months ago
Expect any future onerous legislation to be attached to some Save The Children bill.
42 months ago
I don't like judging a person by looks, but she looks downright evil. Like she is about to throw some puppies in the oven.
[doublepost=1464350680][/doublepost]
If she was for puppies I'd have to be against puppies.
[doublepost=1464350680][/doublepost]
One of my steadfast rules in politics: I want the opposite of whatever Feinstein wants.
If she was for puppies I'd have to be against puppies.
42 months ago
We like to talk about how special interest groups and the rich have too much influence over US politics at the expense of less well-off Americans. There are those who say that for this reason, we need term limits on Congress. This stupid encryption bill is another reason why we need term limits. These career politicians with no understanding of modern technology are proposing laws that are going to make our data less secure.
This law is tantamount to requiring a backdoor. That's just unacceptable. What do LEOs think they'll accomplish if they weaken encryption? To use the words of Comey, if encryption is an essential tradecraft of terrorist organizations, they'll just find a way to get their hands on encryption. By painting encryption as essential tradecraft of terrorist organizations, Comey is trying to make us believe that privacy is abnormal, and you want privacy, you're probably doing something that you shouldn't be doing.
If politicians have their way with this bill, only the bad guys will have privacy. The good guys who are just trying to protect critical information like credit card numbers, health data, and other things will be forced to do without it and will be turned into mindless drones of the government.
This law is tantamount to requiring a backdoor. That's just unacceptable. What do LEOs think they'll accomplish if they weaken encryption? To use the words of Comey, if encryption is an essential tradecraft of terrorist organizations, they'll just find a way to get their hands on encryption. By painting encryption as essential tradecraft of terrorist organizations, Comey is trying to make us believe that privacy is abnormal, and you want privacy, you're probably doing something that you shouldn't be doing.
If politicians have their way with this bill, only the bad guys will have privacy. The good guys who are just trying to protect critical information like credit card numbers, health data, and other things will be forced to do without it and will be turned into mindless drones of the government.
42 months ago
Backdoors are an essential trade craft of state-sponsored hackers and ne're-do-wells.
I think I'm going to name my speed bag James Comey.
I think I'm going to name my speed bag James Comey.
42 months ago
The Republicans are too busy making budget proposals that gut FUNDING for the FCC to make sure that corporations can safely ignore Net Neutrality and stop the cable/satellite industry from having to allow 3rd party newer/faster/better cable/sat boxes that aren't slow as crap operate on their networks. A family member of mine has Time Warner and they charge a nice rental fee for a 15 year old cable box that routinely craps out and resets and is molasses mixed with paint drying slow. If she complains and they come out they give her another 15 year old dud that does no better since to get anything remotely newer they want her to get an HD box (never mind that room doesn't have an HDTV) and the room that does have that box isn't exactly awesome. I have a family owned cable company in my area and they cost 40% less for the same services (but with faster Internet) and newer cable boxes that are 4-5x faster than their older ones and even so, the boxes aren't as fast as they COULD be. I just got back from London a few days ago and my hotel's standard WiFi was getting me over 60Mbps down and 15Mbps up (beats my home speeds) at no cost.
But we all bend over and just take it and vote for these people that protect corporate wealth at the cost of consumers using ancient slow technology with broadband speeds a fraction of Europe because hey, the other guys are evil "liberals" that want to control your life by forcing companies to allow competition! OMG! Competition! What's that? Doesn't everyone know that Capitalism = Merging into Monopolies and ultra-high prices??? But hey, Donald will bring back 1800s coal power by removing all barriers to polluting! You don't need to breathe clean air for god's sake! I'm sorry, but if people want pollution, no food inspection, no safety standards and their kids working in coal mines, vote for the most self-obsessed candidate of all time! He'll bring America back to the 1880s and early 1900s when we were "great" with a few people like Rockefeller, Carnegie and Vanderbilt ruled the country robber baron style! Yes, a dozen people with 99.9% of the wealth is even BETTER than 1% with that wealth, after all. We need to consolidate our rich and shove the rest down to poverty levels so they don't cause trouble! Bring back the medieval noble system of lords and peasants with our new King Trump at the helm!
Yes I realize the alternative is crooked Hillary or perhaps Comrade Colonel Sanders if she goes to jail), so pick your poison well! The age of dignity and trustworthy honest people dies long ago (really never existed; Democracy is a sham; read Plato's Republic some time; it will always be corrupted).
But we all bend over and just take it and vote for these people that protect corporate wealth at the cost of consumers using ancient slow technology with broadband speeds a fraction of Europe because hey, the other guys are evil "liberals" that want to control your life by forcing companies to allow competition! OMG! Competition! What's that? Doesn't everyone know that Capitalism = Merging into Monopolies and ultra-high prices??? But hey, Donald will bring back 1800s coal power by removing all barriers to polluting! You don't need to breathe clean air for god's sake! I'm sorry, but if people want pollution, no food inspection, no safety standards and their kids working in coal mines, vote for the most self-obsessed candidate of all time! He'll bring America back to the 1880s and early 1900s when we were "great" with a few people like Rockefeller, Carnegie and Vanderbilt ruled the country robber baron style! Yes, a dozen people with 99.9% of the wealth is even BETTER than 1% with that wealth, after all. We need to consolidate our rich and shove the rest down to poverty levels so they don't cause trouble! Bring back the medieval noble system of lords and peasants with our new King Trump at the helm!
Yes I realize the alternative is crooked Hillary or perhaps Comrade Colonel Sanders if she goes to jail), so pick your poison well! The age of dignity and trustworthy honest people dies long ago (really never existed; Democracy is a sham; read Plato's Republic some time; it will always be corrupted).
42 months ago
Expect any future onerous legislation to be attached to some Save The Children bill.
No iPhone left behind!
42 months ago
The US needs an even hand or these issues will remain live. That even hand is neither Trump nor Clinton.
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