CCIA, TechFreedom, Free Market Groups Warn of Dangers of Requiring Encryption Back Doors, in Letters to Obama

CCIA news release said. There is “ongoing discussion” within the administration “regarding the growing availability of strong encryption in consumer products and communications systems, and the implications this might have for criminal and counterterrorism investigations,” Black said. Back doors “rarely remain secure and instead become means for unlawful access by criminals or others inclined to misuse such access,” he said. “The global competitiveness of the U.S. tech industry has already been damaged by the last two years of disclosures of mass surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies,” Black said. “I urge your Administration not just to forgo limitations on its use [of encryption], but to support and promote its adoption worldwide.” TechFreedom, Libertarian think tank Niskanen Center and a coalition of free market groups also sent a letter to the White House Wednesday urging the administration to endorse the use of strong encryption, a news release said. President Barack Obama’s “failure to endorse strong encryption has given ammunition to European regulators seeking to restrict cross-border data flows and require that data on EU citizens be stored in their own countries,” said TechFreedom Policy Counsel Tom Struble. “Just yesterday, the European Court of Justice struck down a longstanding agreement (see 1510060001).that made it easier for Europeans to access American Internet services,” Struble said. “If the White House continues to dawdle, it will only further embolden ‘digital protectionism’ across the pond.”