The Senate Intelligence Committee unveiled a bipartisan bill Wednesday that would require tech companies to comply with orders from law enforcement to help them decode encryption.
The Compliance with Court Orders Act comes after a court battle between the FBI and Apple, which had refused to help the agency break into an encrypted phone used in a December terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif.
The legislation would require companies, including device and software manufacturers, to “comply with the rule of law” when they are given a court order to help with encryption. But the bill prohibits the federal government from using court orders to force companies to write code for the government to unlock their devices, and also says companies can’t be required to stop writing code to encrypt their devices.
“I have long believed that data is too insecure, and feel strongly that consumers have a right to seek solutions that protect their information, which involves strong encryption,” said Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C. “I do not believe, however, that those solutions should be above the law. I am hopeful that this draft will start a meaningful and inclusive debate on the role of encryption and its place within the rule of law.”
The FBI earlier this year took Apple to court in an effort to force the company to help them break into a phone used by Syed Rizwan Farook, who along with his wife shot and killed 14 people on December 2 at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. Justice Department officials have also ordered Apple to help them unlock a phone used in a New York drug case.
Apple has said it is not yet resisting any court order, and is simply using their legal rights to appeal those orders to provide the technical assistance federal officials are asking for to unlock the phones.
“The bill we have drafted would simply provide that, if a court of law issues an order to render technical assistance or provide decrypted data, the company or individual would be required to do so,” said panel Vice Chair Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. “Today, terrorists and criminals are increasingly using encryption to foil law enforcement efforts, even in the face of a court order. We need strong encryption to protect personal data, but we also need to know when terrorists are plotting to kill Americans.”
Tech groups quickly criticized the bill and said it would reduce privacy.
“The introduction of the Compliance and Court Orders Act would compel developers, device manufacturers, communications providers, and others to provide technical assistance to law enforcement to deliberately weaken data security measures like encryption,” the Application Developers Alliance said in a statement. “The security measures built into these devices and software protect Americans and help make the country the world’s innovative hub.”
