In 1997, I testified before Congress supporting the Security and Freedom Through Encryption Act, which would have codified the already Fourth Amendment-guaranteed freedom to use strong encryption. I said then that “I worry about an America in which the FBI director lies to Congress and has to be corrected by his own inspector general. These guys want to assign me my digital signature and keep my key on file with them or someone they designate?”

That worry has not dissipated with time. Following the shooting at a Navy training base in Pensacola, Florida, Attorney General William Barr pressured Apple and other technology firms to create backdoors for authorities to access devices.