“Two U.S. senators on Wednesday issued a formal draft of a controversial bill that would give courts the power to order technology companies like Apple to help authorities break into encrypted devices or communications for law enforcement or intelligence purposes,” Mark Hosenball and Dustin Volz report for Reuters. “The proposal arrives just days after an earlier draft leaked online and drew fire from security researchers and civil liberties advocates who warned it would undermine Internet security and expose personal data to hackers.”
“Senators Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein, the Senate intelligence committee’s Republican chair and top Democrat, said in a statement they intended now to ‘solicit input from the public and key stakeholders before formally introducing the bill,'” Hosenball and Volz report. “The new discussion draft does not require manufacturers or communications companies to process, transmit or store data in any particular format. Rather, it requires companies, upon receipt of a court order, to turn over to the government ‘data in an intelligible format’ even if encryption has rendered that data inaccessible to anyone other than the owner.”
“Companies must ensure their products ‘be capable of complying,’ the bill states,” Hosenball and Volz report. “The proposed legislation, which is expected to continue facing strong opposition from the technology sector and privacy advocates, faces an uphill battle in a gridlocked Congress.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: This bill is garbage and thankfully is likely DOA.
Hopefully, Congress will listen to the few techie members they have and not follow the whims of vapid career politicians like Diane Feinstein and Richard Burr who have no idea what they’re dealing with.
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s fight with U.S. government over privacy enters a new round – April 12, 2016
Dianne Feinstein’s response to Apple-FBI dispute is bad for privacy, security – April 8, 2016
White House declines to support legislation to defeat strong encryption – April 7, 2016
U.S. Senator Wyden pledges to fight limits on encryption – March 31, 2016
Apple: ‘Government misunderstands the technology’ involved in demanding they decrypt an iPhone – March 16, 2016
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham finally talks to tech experts, switches side to Apple vs. FBI – March 15, 2016
Obama pushes for iPhone back door; Congressman Issa blasts Obama’s ‘fundamental lack of understanding’ – March 12, 2016
California Democrat Diane Feinstein backs U.S. government overreach over Apple – March 10, 2016
U.S. Congressman Darrell Issa: The FBI should try to unlock shooter’s iPhone without Apple’s help – March 2, 2016
U.S. Representative Darrell Issa on Apple vs. FBI: Very scary when your government wants to know more about you – February 24, 2016