Coalition Letter to President Obama 04/11/2016

Tags: 2010s Backdoors Compliance with Court Orders Act

Published: April 2016

URL: https://www.accessnow.org/cms/assets/uploads/2016/04/Encryption-Letter.pdf

Abstract: On April 11, 2016, a coalition of domestic and international organizations and experts sent a letter to President Barack Obama in which they urged the White House to “specifically oppose legislation to undermine security and reiterate the need for a broad statement of support for encryption from the administration”. The letter was sent in response to a draft bill titled “Compliance with Court Order Act of 2016”, which would compel all internet companies and “any person who provides a product or method to facilitate a communication or the processing or storage of data,” to “either undermine the security features they offer users or offer lesser security so as to facilitate government access.” The letter highlights that while this bill would pose a security threat to billions of people, it would scarcely assist law enforcement in investigating crimes or terrorism. The purpose of the letter is to encourage the White House to support strong security and publicly reject the draft bill and any similar legislation that “would severely undermine digital security”.