Issue Brief: A “Backdoor” to Encryption for Government Surveillance
Tags: 2010s Backdoors
Authors: Hall, Joseph Lorenzo
Published: March 2016
Abstract: On March 3, 2016, the Center for Democracy and Technology published an article about whether or not there should be an encryption “backdoor” for government surveillance. The article discussed the decision by Apple and Google to make their smartphones “encrypted by default”, the desire of the FBI that all encrypted communications services have a “backdoor”, the major problems created by backdoors, including the undermining of user security and harm to United States businesses, rejects the claim that “companies’ increasing adoption of strong encryption by default will suddenly lead to government ‘going dark’ and unable to access critical information”, and factors relevant to whether or not compelled decryption is legal. The purpose of the article is to convey the publisher’s findings that “a government mandate requiring companies to build a ‘backdoor’ into encryption for surveillance would put consumers at grave risk and impose heavy costs on US businesses. The government can obtain information for investigations from other sources, and may be able to compel an individual to decrypt information with a search warrant.”