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Obama Administration Won’t Seek Access to Encrypted User Data
The New York Times is reporting [nytimes.com]:
The Obama administration has backed down in its bitter dispute with Silicon Valley over the encryption of data on iPhones and other digital devices, concluding that it is not possible to give American law enforcement and intelligence agencies access to that information without also creating an opening that China, Russia, cybercriminals and terrorists could exploit.
Not surprisingly:
With its decision, which angered the F.B.I. and other law enforcement agencies, the administration essentially agreed with Apple, Google, Microsoft and a group of the nation’s top cryptographers and computer scientists that millions of Americans would be vulnerable to hacking if technology firms and smartphone manufacturers were required to provide the government with “back doors,” or access to their source code and encryption keys.
What's important about this decision is this:
While the administration said it would continue to try to persuade companies like Apple and Google to assist in criminal and national security investigations, it determined that the government should not force them to breach the security of their products. In essence, investigators will have to hope they find other ways to get what they need, from data stored in the cloud in unencrypted form or transmitted over phone lines, which are covered by a law that affects telecommunications providers but not the technology giants.
One wonders at the intelligence of law enforcement officials regarding their anger because of this decision. Do they not realize that backdoors let the good guys (law enforcement pursuing an active and legitimate case), the bad guys (the criminals), and the other bad guys (corrupt law enforcement and the 3- and 4-letter intelligence agencies) into people's secret and confidential information? Do they not realize that we the people no longer trust them and we do not want them knowing any more about us than we are willing to give them?
