President Barack Obama. (credit: White House)
The White House has reportedly decided not to give public support to legislation that would force tech companies to help law enforcement agencies break into encrypted products.
Reuters reported the news today, attributing it to "sources familiar with the discussion." The draft legislation from Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) could be introduced this week and "would empower judges to require technology companies such as Apple to help law enforcement crack encrypted data," Reuters wrote.
The Obama administration said in October that it wouldn't seek legislation requiring tech companies to install backdoors in their products. But last month, President Obama said he thinks the government should have some access to encrypted data to investigate terrorist plots and crimes such as child pornography and tax fraud. "You cannot take an absolutist view on this," Obama said at the South By Southwest conference. "If your view is strong encryption no matter what and we can and should create black boxes, that does not strike the balance that we've lived with for 200 or 300 years. And it's fetishizing our phones above every other value. That can't be the right answer."
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