“Smartphone users in California take notice: a new CA State Assembly bill would ban default encryption features on all smartphones,” Andrew Crocker writes for Electronic Frontier Foundation. “Assembly Bill 1681, introduced in January by Assemblymember Jim Cooper, would require any smartphone sold in California “to be capable of being decrypted and unlocked by its manufacturer or its operating system provider.” This is perhaps even more drastic than the legal precedent at stake in Apple’s ongoing showdown with the Justice Department, in which the government is trying to force a private company to write code undermining key security features in specific cases.”
A.B. 1681 would penalize “manufacturers and providers of operating systems $2,500 per device that cannot be decrypted at the time of sale,” Crocker writes. “Similar proposals have been made by Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who published a white paper [pdf] in November 2015 arguing that law enforcement needs to access the contents of smartphones to solve a range of crimes. A nearly identical bill is also pending in the New York State Assembly.”
“A.B. 1681 is hopelessly flawed,” Crocker writes. “Take action and tell lawmakers not to support this misguided bill.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Abject stupidity from California Assemblyman Jim Cooper.
SEE ALSO:
U.S. Congressman introduces bill to forbid federal agencies from purchasing Apple products until company unlocks terrorist’s iPhone – March 3, 2016
Proposed New York State bill looks to outlaw sale of encrypted smartphones – January 14, 2016
They will change their tune when every phone and PC manufacturer stops selling their devices in California.
Sigh, if only.
The criminals will encrypt their phones with third party apps and the innocents will become victims.
Been bitching about this bill for weeks. It is being sold as a bill to protect women and children.
History reveals since the 80s that if you want to push a Bill through make sure it’s tied to either the protection of women, children or both!
Amazing, isn’t it? An iPhone has never killed anyone but guns have killed many. There seems to be a lot of confusing in the US about what the true danger is.
Actually, “guns” have killed zero people.
People kill people with various tools, a gun happens to be one of those tools….
So typical from any politician!!!
This makes the “1984” ad all the more significant.
“…and you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like 1984.”
Yep… because 2016 will be like 1984.
From the wording of the bill it appears that phones can have encryption features but none will be on by default at time of sale.. Just adds one step to turn it on when users first set up their device. Doesn’t seem to exclude any encryption apps that you can add later either.
Are they idio ts?
Why the hell do you want an encryption system that can be decrypted by other people besides the owner?
Whats next? to give our debit card’s PIN number to the government? to give them the phone numbers of the girls i went out? to give them a key to my house and gym’s looker?
Give them what they want above and they will have all that, plus the passwords to your bank accounts.
Yes, all of that and that’s only for starters
Mr Cook, you need to stop construction on the Apple spaceship right now and until freakin’ California legislators stop this unconstitutional bull sh*t.
Too bad it’s gone this far…
Move Apple to Canada or any other place that will appreciate and respect it.
Agree, Apple should move to another country if the US dones’t want it.
How is it that canada is not requiring to get into the private life of every citizen in order to keep peace in their country? May be the FBI and NSA should ask for advice to Alberta’s local police department.
Apple already have most of the production and the money outside the US so that won’t be easy. The government should know that it is better to have the greatest technological company in the world and the one that is in most homes in the world too and its side and not in other’s country side.
After the cold war, the US were hiring Russian scientists in order to avoid that knowledge going into other’s countries hands. So now they want to expel all the knowledge form the US?
It’s getting worse:
Fbi is threatening to ask for souce code unless Apple cooperates and is “smearing Apple with iiniendo of collusion with China accusations” which prompted Sewell to go balistic in a press conference.
We are under attack of a second monster ala J. Edgar Hoover.
Time to consider a peaceful free life in another haven…
It seems to be basic wrong for states (and their Junior G-Men wannabe misguided pandering politicians) to be horning in on the action when it’s the Feds and Congress who need to decide.
I can see the hackers of the world salivating and rubbing their hands in anticipation now, amazed at the abject stupidity bringing manna so easily to their nimble keyboard hands.
Also, no whispering allowed, no sealed mail (only postcards), and you must carry your papers with you at all times.
California is often associated with progressive politics; but the fact is that, in recent years, some incredibly backward and stupidly conservative political actions have happened in the sunshine state. Stupidity is stupidity, no matter where it comes from.
Just to make it clear, Assemblyman Cooper is a Democrat, along with all but a handful of California’s Assembly.
The label you’re looking for is neither “progressive” nor “conservative”, it’s statist. That’s exactly what these sorts of actions are.
And to make it clearer yet, Jim Cooper is a retired Captain who was with the Sacramento County Sheriff Bureau for many years. He had lots of TV exposure as the long time spokesman and parleyed that into election to the Elk Grove city council and then on to the Assembly. He’s a good guy but obviously is going the wrong direction in this case.
Our elected officials aren’t (for the most part) as stupid as we might like to think. The excuses they give are simply rationales.
Con men are contemptuous of others because if they can fool someone then they think their that person is stupid and deserves to be taken. The con man’s rationale is that “you can’t cheat an honest man” because only a dishonest person tries to take advantage of a con man’s deal. This ignores the reality that honesty doesn’t grant immunity to deceit or fraud.
Like con men, politicians are contemptuous of the electorate (victims) because they keep re-electing (conning) them.
Black Lives Matter, the NAACP and ACLU need to have a chat with Assemblyman Cooper; he thinks this will help solve sex trafficking.
Yeah, and the next big thing in California? Flip phones.
Lol !
“Doesn’t seem to exclude any encryption apps that you can add later either.”
Such as the ones that ANYBODY that matters – terrorist or general criminal – are already using.
Exactly.. Somewhat of a pointless exercise to waste time better spent on other bills and such.
They would immediately seek a way to ban them or prevent their distribution or installation.
It’s a slippery slope and we’re already being pushed down it.
Write Cooper: https://lcmspubcontact.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ContactPopup.php?district=AD09
He was sworn in Jan 2016. I suspect he is trying to make his political mark. He was appointed by Speaker Anthony Rendon to serve as Assistant Majority Floor Leader as part of the Speaker’s new leadership team.
WOW! I never thought anyone could rely on such stupidity. Keep one’s personal property unsecured as much as possible?! I cannot fathom such an idea…
Jim Cooper, the author of the bill, is a former cop. One of his biggest accomplishments was heading a task force targeting child predators and identity thieves. He lives in my neck of the woods.
Not long ago District Attorneys prevail over Apple to make iPhone more secure to deter criminals from stealing her products. And Apple did. Now they are after Apple to make her products unsecured.
Obviously he doesn’t understand technology best practices. You should devices and install software in a default secure state and make the customer back off of security. Not only will that protect unsuspecting customers but it also shields you from lawsuits.
Every solution I have heard from a politician so far will destroy security for hundreds of millions of people – and that’s just iOS devices.
Write your congressman and the president about what a horrible mistake this would be. I did already. Make it clear that your vote will not be with them if they do such a stupid mistake.
This is the digital age lets do it right. iPhones have encryption, the encrypted password is save in cloud.
Only certain Federal judges have an authorization key device that can only be accessed with biometrics and code and is encrypted like the Apple Pay encryption system
Government gets a warrant to access an iPhone and gets three judges to agree with warrant. The three judges must be unanimous, if any of the 3 judges declines the phone remains locked, the warrant is declined and the government can not reissue the warrant again.
When all three judges have issued the activation key the password is decrypted and sent to the judge to give to the party that issued the warrant in court. The decrypted password has a time factor. After x days the password is reset in the phone.
The key authorizations can not have the same 3 judges in another case for a lockout period of time. Keeps governments from going to same judges all the time.
Government pays for everything and comes out of their budgets, FBI, NSA, DOJ with no additions funds offered by Congress.
Depending on the number of warrant requests and the length of the lockout period your suggestion may quickly become impractical.
Here’s the thing: they are looking to stop crimes that have already happened. Apple doesn’t make a time machine. (Well they do but it’s capitalized). Once a crime has been committed, you can’t undo it no matter how much information you get from their phones. Will unlocking Farook’s phone magically resurrect his victims? Will discovering child pornography somehow un-rape children? It’s all about control. They (the government and statists) don’t give a fuck about your privacy or rights if it interferes with what they want to do.
Unless there is a Pre-Crime department I’m sure you’re right. 😛
Old news. But it helps to read it again and get people to realize the depth of UNconstitutional behavior being pulled by OUR government.
BAD California bill!
BAD New York bill!