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DOJ: Strong Encryption That We Don't Have Access to is “Unreasonable”

posted by mrpg on Saturday November 11 2017, @10:46PM   
from the fight-the-bad-fight dept.

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

"We have an ongoing dialogue with a lot of tech companies in a variety of different areas," he [Rod Rosenstein] told Politico Pro. "There's some areas where they are cooperative with us. But on this particular issue of encryption, the tech companies are moving in the opposite direction. They're moving in favor of more and more warrant-proof encryption."

[...] In the interview, Rosenstein also said he "favors strong encryption."

"I favor strong encryption, because the stronger the encryption, the more secure data is against criminals who are trying to commit fraud," he explained. "And I'm in favor of that, because that means less business for us prosecuting cases of people who have stolen data and hacked into computer networks and done all sorts of damage. So I'm in favor of strong encryption."

[...] He later added that the claim that the "absolutist position" that strong encryption should be by definition, unbreakable, is "unreasonable."

[...] Rosenstein closed his interview by noting that he understands re-engineering encryption to accommodate government may make it weaker.

"And I think that's a legitimate issue that we can debate—how much risk are we willing to take in return for the reward?" he said.

Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/11/doj-strong-encryption-that-we-dont-have-access-to-is-unreasonable/

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Original Submission

• Re:We're not the only target audienceRe:We're not the only target audience (Score: 2) by mendax on Sunday November 12 2017, @04:08AM (2 children)

  by mendax (2840) on Sunday November 12 2017, @04:08AM (#595836)

  That same mentality will ensure crypto is eventually backdoored.

  Crypto may be backdoored eventually, but the cat is out of the bag, dear friends, and there is no way it's going back in. It'll be similar to what critics of gun control say: if strong encryption is outlawed, then only outlaws will have strong encryption.

  --
  It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.

  Parent

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• Re:We're not the only target audience(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 12 2017, @03:34PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 12 2017, @03:34PM (#595911)

  Except that strong crypto doesn't kill anybody and it has constructive uses and it's virtually impossible to trace.

  And the fact that we'd be right.

  Parent

• Re:We're not the only target audience(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 13 2017, @01:19AM

  by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 13 2017, @01:19AM (#596030)

  and in effect: Outlaws will be the only ones with freedom..

  Parent