A bill being introduced in Congress wants to make sure your smartphone data can remain encrypted.
Jason Cipriani/CNET
Imagine not being able to buy an iPhone in your state because the phone's data is protected by encryption. A couple of Congressmen are trying to make sure a scenario like that can't happen.
The Encrypt Act of 2016, short for Ensuring National Constitutional Rights of Your Private Telecommunications Act, would ensure that states do not have the power to block the sale of encrypted smartphones or require manufacturers to equip their phones with a back door to access private data. The bill is set to be introduced Wednesday by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas).
Encryption is built into Apple's iPhone, Android phones and other smartphones to ensure that your personal data is safe and secure from prying eyes. An encryption key is needed to decrypt the data, which the smartphone manufacturers do not possess.
The bill comes as lawmakers and Silicon Valley tech giants are trying to figure out how to compromise on device encryption. Some law enforcement officials, including FBI Director James Comey, have spoken out against the increased use of encryption on phones. Data stored on phones, they argue, could be useful in investigations against ordinary criminals as well as suspected terrorists.
The bill is a reaction to proposals from New York and Califoia, which would ban encrypted smartphones in their respective states and fine manufacturers of such phones. Assuming those proposals were tued into law, smartphone companies would be required to enable decryption of smartphone data on phones made after 2017.
Trying to enforce smartphone encryption on a state level would be a confusing and difficult process, according to Leiu.
"Having 50 states with 50 different encryption back doors standards or bans is a recipe for disaster for American privacy and competitiveness," Lieu said in an email. "This conversation belongs at the national level, where we can find a solution that protects the privacy rights of Americans and does not create additional vulnerabilities. The ENCRYPT Act makes sure that this conversation happens in a place that does not disrupt interstate commerce."
Companies such as Apple have been accused of equipping their phones with back doors, openings coded into software that let law enforcement bypass security measures. Apple CEO Tim Cook has refuted those claims and argued against the use of back doors. Last month, Cook called on the Obama administration to issue a statement defending the use of unbreakable encryption.
The Encrypt Act covers any computer hardware, computer software, electronic device or online service.
- - , .
en apple news...
ما را در سایت en apple news دنبال میکنید
برچسب: نویسنده: استخدام کار بازدید: 228 تاريخ: پنجشنبه
22 بهمن
1394 ساعت: 2:49