Encryption, Senate Bill 4051
Aug. 1st, 2020 01:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ndrosenI will tell my senators that I urge them to oppose Senate Bill 4051, the Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act, which essentially requires the tech industry to provide the government with backdoor access to people’s tablets, smartphones, and encrypted communications. The reason, officially, is that this will aid law enforcement in tracking the activities of terrorists, child pornographers, and other very bad people.
One problem is that there is no such thing as a backdoor which only the good guys can use. If the FBI can use the required backdoor to access my iPad, then Chinese military intelligence will probably soon find a way to do the same, and so will ordinary crooks who want to obtain my banking and credit card information. Meanwhile, the people whom the government has the most legitimate reasons to surveil will often have the sophistication to avoid having their data viewed. The United States has no monopoly on software engineering, or on the manufacture of electronic devices, and I do not believe that sources of unapproved, backdoorless encryption will be wanting, whether motivated by ideology or by money.
Please write to your senators as well, asking them to oppose LAED, also known as Senate Bill 4051.
Oh, and Attorney General William P. Barr very much supports this bill. Need I say more?
One problem is that there is no such thing as a backdoor which only the good guys can use. If the FBI can use the required backdoor to access my iPad, then Chinese military intelligence will probably soon find a way to do the same, and so will ordinary crooks who want to obtain my banking and credit card information. Meanwhile, the people whom the government has the most legitimate reasons to surveil will often have the sophistication to avoid having their data viewed. The United States has no monopoly on software engineering, or on the manufacture of electronic devices, and I do not believe that sources of unapproved, backdoorless encryption will be wanting, whether motivated by ideology or by money.
Please write to your senators as well, asking them to oppose LAED, also known as Senate Bill 4051.
Oh, and Attorney General William P. Barr very much supports this bill. Need I say more?
Thank you for reaching out to your senators
Date: 2020-08-01 06:56 pm (UTC)I found this quote very funny!
Now, back on topic. I find the very idea of anti encryption bills fundamentally un-American by their very nature; like you said they seek to weaken the countries very ability to defend private information from external adversaries. I really don't understand how our representatives can propose legislation like this while they wave around a little hand held American flag and say that they are doing what is best for America.
This post reminded me to reach out to my senators as well about this. I will do that this weekend. Thank you.
Edit - accidentally quoted the wrong text