Top U.S. tech companies, including Apple, Google and Facebook, are warning the Obama administration not to impose policies that they believe could weaken the encryption programs that are meant to keep consumers’ privacy.
These concerns were addressed in a letter to President Obama on June 8, the Industry Technology Industry Council and the Software and Information industry Association said they opposed any new policies that would diminish the effectiveness of encryption. Based in Washington, D.C., the groups represent major software and hardware companies.
The groups noted that one of the big reasons why online commerce has flourished is because consumers believe their payment information is secure and not easily accessed by outsiders.
The letter, which was also sent to FBI director James Comey, Homeland Security secretary Jeh Johnson, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and other Cabinet chiefs, was signed by more than 140 tech companies, dozens of civil liberty and human rights groups and 60 security and policy experts.
It came days after legislation was enacted to curtail the government’s ability to access records related to Americans’ telephone calls.
Officials from the Obama administration, led by the FBI, have pushed tech companies to come up with ways to allow law enforcement to circumvent encryption while investigating illegal actions, such as terrorism threats. Critics in the technology industry, however, have argued that creating a back door for U.S. law enforcement would also create a back door for everyone else, including hackers and other governments.
So far, the White House has not announced any new regulations but some cybersecurity experts anticipate Congress will take legislative action soon to expand the government’s powers or put limits on the development of encryption tools.
Government surveillance gained attention after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 and more recently got further exposed by Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor.
It comes as consumers and businesses are increasingly concerned about cyberattacks that steal people’s personal and financial information. Last week, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management said the records of up to 4 million current and former federal workers may have been compromised in a massive breach.
The tech industry letter isn’t the first warning against encryption. At a security conference in May, top cryptographers sharply disputed claims that the government has a safe way to read encrypted communications. They opposed any efforts by intelligence and law enforcement officials to criticize companies for making their devices more secure.
