DOJ Hints At Probe of Big Tech on Encryption – Crime Report

By Crime and Justice News | 9 hours ago

A Justice Department official hinted that a yearslong fight over encrypted communications could become part of a sweeping investigation of big tech companies, reports the New York Times. A speech Monday by Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen pointed toward heightened interest in end-to-end encryption, which makes it nearly impossible for law enforcement and spy agencies to get access to peoples digital communications. Law enforcement and technologists have been arguing over encryption for more than two decades. Privacy advocates and tech bosses like Apple chief executive Timothy Cook believe people should be able to have online communications free of snooping. Law enforcement and some lawmakers believe tough encryption makes it impossible to track child predators, terrorists and other criminals.

Attorney General William Barr, joined by his British and Australian counterparts, have pressed Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to abandon plans to embed end-to-end encryption in services like Messenger and Instagram. Companies should not deliberately design their systems to preclude any form of access to content even for preventing or investigating the most serious crimes, Barr said. End-to-end encryption scrambles messages so they can be deciphered only by the sender and the intended recipient. Last year, Australia enacted a law requiring technology companies to provide law enforcement and security agencies with access to encrypted communications. The measure allowed the government to get a court order allowing it to secretly order technology companies to re-engineer software and hardware so that it can be used to spy on users.

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DOJ Hints At Probe of Big Tech on Encryption - Crime Report

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