By Mark Wilson
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The Obama administration has announced that it will not require companies to decrypt encrypted messages for law enforcement agencies. This is being heralded as a 'partial victory' by the Electronic Frontier Foundation; partial because, as reported by the Washington Post, the government "will not -- for now — call for [such] legislation".
This means that at the moment companies will not be forced to build backdoors into their products, but there is no guarantee that this won’t happen further down the line. The government wants to continue talks with the technology industry to find a solution, but leaving things in limbo for the time being will create a sense of unease on both sides of the debate.
Since the NSA surveillance revelations made by Edward Snowden, there has been increased concern about security and privacy, and greater interest in encrypted communication tools. The notion of communication that can't be intercepted and read has governments around the world worried.
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President Barack Obama's administration has backed away from seeking legislation that would give U.S. law enforcement agencies access to individuals' encrypted messages, the White House said on Saturday.
"We are actively engaged with private companies to ensure they understand the public safety and national security risks that result from malicious actors’ use of their encrypted products and services," said White House spokesman Mark Stroh. "However, the administration is not seeking legislation at this time."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/10/us-usa-cybersecurity-legislation-idUSKCN0S40VN20151010
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