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Posts: 27156
04/17/16 08:26:49
A new bill targeting encryption would force companies to comply with court orders at the cost of security. The Senate Intelligence Committee just released a draft of long-awaited legislation to tackle the problem authorities have with encrypted communications. Namely, because encryption is so secure, it interferes with court orders in the same way private property poses problems for police who just want to get things done. The Compliance with Court Orders Act of 2016 authored by Sens Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., mandates companies to shoulder the technical burden of accessing encrypted emails or files when investigators issue court orders. It doesn't specify penalties for noncompliance. When CCOA hit the internet this week, lots of techies, privacy advocates, reporters and security researchers saw red over what they described as legislation that makes encryption illegal or requires backdoors. Not so fast. The senators might be clueless about security, but they saw those arguments coming from a mile away. In reality, the Senate committee's Court Orders Act won't outlaw encryption. Nor does it mandate golden keys or backdoors in products -- it's very careful to avoid requiring or prohibiting any kind of design or operating system. No, this slippery little act says that when a company or person gets a court order asking for encrypted emails or files to be handed over and decrypted, compliance is the law.
The Senate Intelligence Committee just released a draft of long-awaited legislation to tackle the problem authorities have with encrypted communications. Namely, because encryption is so secure, it interferes with court orders in the same way private property poses problems for police who just want to get things done.
The Compliance with Court Orders Act of 2016 authored by Sens Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., mandates companies to shoulder the technical burden of accessing encrypted emails or files when investigators issue court orders. It doesn't specify penalties for noncompliance.
When CCOA hit the internet this week, lots of techies, privacy advocates, reporters and security researchers saw red over what they described as legislation that makes encryption illegal or requires backdoors.
Not so fast. The senators might be clueless about security, but they saw those arguments coming from a mile away.
In reality, the Senate committee's Court Orders Act won't outlaw encryption. Nor does it mandate golden keys or backdoors in products -- it's very careful to avoid requiring or prohibiting any kind of design or operating system.
No, this slippery little act says that when a company or person gets a court order asking for encrypted emails or files to be handed over and decrypted, compliance is the law.
Read more @ http://www.engadget.com/2016/04/15/senate-to-americans-your-security-is-not-our-problem/
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~
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