Encryption‬‬

Encryption‬‬

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The Department of Justice wants a mandate that would force tech companies to provide phone unlocking tools. The FBI is involved in discussions of potential legislation forcing the matter, according to a new report.

If you think that the US government has given up on finding a way to get manufacturers to give up encryption keys for special circumstances, then we were apparently wrong. Sources are saying that the US Justice Department are once again preparing for a push to compel tech companies to build tools in their devices that would allow access to encrypted data, in case the need for it comes up in criminal investigations.

Smartphones protected by encryption present a problem for law enforcement spanning from the local to the federal level. Without the password (or PIN, etc), officials are unable to access the device. The FBI previously attempted to force Apple to provide it with a backdoor, eventually dropping that effort after acquiring a third-party way of accessing the particular iPhone it was interested in.These actions are said to be in a preliminary stage, one that doesn’t have an “imminent” request for legislation to be drafted. Critics have long decried the government’s efforts to get a backdoor to encrypted devices.

But there are also some tech experts trying to find a compromise since this issue will probably not go away anytime soon. These technologists have been discussing they research with government agencies on potential approaches that may have an acceptable level of risk. They are bringing “constructive dialogue” to the table rather than just accepting that there is no solution for both parties.

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