{"id":704,"date":"2015-12-25T02:40:05","date_gmt":"2015-12-25T02:40:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/?p=704"},"modified":"2024-12-23T07:47:57","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T07:47:57","slug":"senate-intel-chair-its-time-for-encryption-legislation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/senate-intel-chair-its-time-for-encryption-legislation-704\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Intel chair: “It’s time” for encryption legislation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Senate<\/a><\/p>\n

Congress must enact a law that would require companies to decrypt data upon government request, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) argued Thursday in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.<\/p>\n

\u201cCriminals in the U.S. have been using this technology for years to cover their tracks,\u201d Burr said. \u201cThe time has come for Congress and technology companies to discuss how encryption \u2014 encoding messages to protect their content \u2014 is enabling murderers, pedophiles, drug dealers and, increasingly, terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n

The recent terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., have reignited the debate over encryption. Lawmakers and investigators have said they believe the people behind those incidents likely used encrypted platforms to help hide their plans.
\nBurr has been one of Capitol Hill\u2019s leading proponents of legislation that forces companies to crack their own encryption. But the tech community has pushed back, arguing that such a mandate would make encrypted data less secure.<\/p>\n

Major tech players like Apple have even refused to comply with court orders for encrypted data, arguing that they can\u2019t access their own secured information.<\/p>\n

Burr said this has become a serious issue for law enforcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven when the government has shown probable cause under the Fourth Amendment, it cannot acquire the evidence it seeks,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cTechnology has outpaced the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burr explained that the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994 \u201crequires telecommunications carriers \u2014 for instance, phone companies \u2014 to build into their equipment the capability for law enforcement to intercept communications in real time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is that it doesn\u2019t apply to other providers of electronic communications, including those supporting encrypted applications,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for Congress to close that loophole with legislation, Burr insisted.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s unclear if Burr would have the momentum to move his proposed bill. While Senate Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has said she will work with him on his efforts, other congressional leaders seem more hesitant.<\/p>\n

Many have suggested the government must simply do a better job of working with Silicon Valley to come up with a non-legislative solution.<\/p>\n

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) recently proposed \u201ca national commission on security and technology challenges in the digital age.\u201d The commission, tasked with creating alternatives to legislation, would include tech companies, privacy advocates and law enforcement officials.<\/p>\n

Burr countered that the tech community has almost forced Congress\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI and other lawmakers in Washington would like to work with America\u2019s leading tech companies to solve this problem, but we fear they may balk,\u201d Burr said.<\/p>\n

He noted that when Apple refused to comply with the court order seeking encrypted data, the company argued, \u201cThis is a matter for Congress to decide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn that point, Apple and I agree,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s time to update the law.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congress must enact a law that would require companies to decrypt data upon government request, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) argued Thursday in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. \u201cCriminals in the U.S. have been using this technology for years to cover their tracks,\u201d Burr said. \u201cThe time has come for Congress and technology … Continue reading Senate Intel chair: “It’s time” for encryption legislation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[52,295],"class_list":["post-704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-encryption","tag-encryption-legislation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":706,"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions\/706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}