By Barry Eitel
SAN FRANCISCO
Several technology giants have sent a letter Tuesday to President Barack Obama asking him to reject any proposals that allow law enforcement access to their users’ data.
The four-page, strongly-worded open letter was signed by more than 140 companies including Apple, Facebook, Google and Twitter activist groups and industry experts.
“We urge you to reject any proposal that U.S. companies deliberately weaken the security of their products”, the letter reads. “We request that the White House instead focus on developing policies that will promote rather than undermine the wide adoption of strong encryption technology”.
These policies supporting encryption, the authors contend, will foster “cybersecurity, economic growth, and human rights, both here and abroad”.
There is a growing battle between law enforcement officials and the tech world over encryption. Police want access to the digital communications of suspected criminals and some in the U.S. government have suggested that tech companies be required to build a “key” into every device that is accessible only to the government.
“I don’t want a back door”, Adm. Michael Rogers, head of the National Security Agency, said during a speech at Princeton University last month. “I want a front door. And I want the front door to have multiple locks. Big locks”.
But the tech industry, and many cybersecurity experts, recoil at the thought of the federal government requiring such a key. Critics claim hackers could exploit a built-in vulnerability.
“Whether you call them ‘front doors’ or ‘back doors’, introducing intentional vulnerabilities into secure products for the government’s use will make those products less secure against other attackers”, according to the letter.
Apple turns on data encryption by default. Google announced last year that it was developing encryption so secure that government code-breakers could not crack it – even if they had a search warrant.
