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 In a strongly worded letter to President Barack Obama on Monday, two
industry associations representing major software and hardware
companies said, "We are opposed to any policy actions or measures
that would undermine encryption as an available and effective tool."
The Information Technology Industry Council and the Software and
Information Industry Association, representing tech giants,
including Apple Inc, Google Inc. Facebook Inc, IBM and
Microsoft Corp, fired the latest salvo in what could be a long fight
over government access into smart phones and other digital devices.
Obama administration officials have pushed the companies to find
ways to let law enforcement bypass encryption to investigate illegal
activities including terrorism threats, but not weaken it in a way
that would let criminals and computer hackers penetrate the security
wall.
So far, however, the White House has not spelled out specific
regulatory or legislative steps that it might seek to achieve that
objective.
Last week White House press secretary Josh Earnest called this a
"thorny policy challenge" that has Obama's attention.
While he recognized tech companies' efforts to protect Americans'
civil liberties, Earnest, responding to a reporter's question, added
that the companies "would not want to be in a position in which
their technology is being deployed to aid and abet somebody who’s
planning to carry out an act of violence."
The industry letter to Obama also was sent to FBI Director James
Comey, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, Attorney General
Loretta Lynch and other Cabinet heads.
Days earlier, the United States enacted legislation that will
curtail the government's ability to scoop up huge volumes of data
related to records of Americans' telephone calls.
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The government surveillance was an outgrowth of the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks on the United States and was exposed by former National
Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
The industry groups noted that online commerce has flourished in
part because consumers believed their payment information would be
secure.
"Consumer trust in digital products and services is an essential
component enabling continued economic growth of the online
marketplace," the industry wrote.
"Accordingly, we urge you not to pursue any policy or proposal that
would require or encourage companies to weaken these technologies,
including the weakening of encryption or creating encryption 'work-arounds'."
(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Kevin
Drawbaugh)
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