Washington — At two separate Senate hearings today, the FBI and Department of Justice, primarily through the testimony of FBI Director James Comey, renewed their calls for a solution that would enable law enforcement access to encrypted communications over consumer devices and services.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association supports strong encryption as a way to protect personal information and maintain users’ trust in technology. The following can be attributed to CCIA’s Privacy Counsel, Bijan Madhani.
“Limiting the public’s ability to use encryption or including backdoors into secure technologies is not technically sound nor wise. Empowering users to protect themselves and their data should be a cornerstone of our national and democratic security framework. Leading security experts agree that strong encryption of data is necessary to protect against hacking, identity theft, financial crimes, and foreign government oppression.”
“These tools are essential to protect against cybercrime and national security threats, and that protection is undermined, not aided, by purposely inserting vulnerabilities into secure products. Limiting strong encryption weakens the rights of U.S. citizens, relations with our allies and the competitiveness of American industry — in addition to further compromising user confidence in the Internet and digital services.”