With its decision, which angered the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies, the administration essentially agreed with Apple, Google, Microsoft and a group of the nation’s top cryptographers and computer scientists that USA inhabitants would be vulnerable to hacking if technology firms and smartphone manufacturers were required to provide the government with “back doors”, or access to their source code and encryption keys.
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It looks as though the tech industry has gained a win in the ongoing battle over access to consumer data transmitted via smartphones and digital devices, with President Barack Obama’s administration announcing it will not seek new laws granting government access to this encrypted information, Reuters reported over the weekend.
Wysopal said the government came with the same kinds of arguments more than 20 years ago when it proposed widespread adoption of the Clipper chip, a microcircuit developed by the National Security Agency as an encryption device with built-in backdoor capability to allow law enforcement in for security reasons.
“We are actively engaged with private companies to ensure they understand the public safety and national security risks that result from malicious actors’ use of their encrypted products and services”, said Mark Stroh, spokesman for the White House.
A few companies are anxious what the future might bring when it comes to the new encrypted-data law. He continues, “However, the administration is not seeking legislation at this time”.
The essential factor, he mentioned, is to make sure corporations “get to a place technologically, legally, where we could get you to comply with court orders”.
He said this must be done without weakening the government’s commitment to strong encryption.
Tech companies have expressed that this is a victory for their businesses.
According to a person familiar with Apple’s thinking, the company in adding the iPhone encryption was motivated both by a desire to protect users’ privacy as well as a way to stop a growing number of iPhones being sent to Apple by law enforcement officials seeking help unlocking password-protected contents.
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The decision, which was made after a year of study, means the federal government is limited to convincing tech companies to assist in criminal investigations and those involving national security.
