To whom it may concern:
It was recently brought to my attention that a senate bill was introduced that would require tech companies that implement encryption technologies to, in effect, build “back doors” into their technology so that law enforcement can issue warrants and gain access to encrypted data. I am writing to urge you to oppose this bill, and any future language or bills that would result in a similar outcome.
Modern, strong encryption algorithms are one of the foundations of a free and open internet. The 4th amendment of the constitution guarantees you a right to privacy in your personal papers and effects. In the modern world, that extends to the internet since it is our primary means of communication. More people have internet access and a smart phone than have land line telephones. The only way to forcibly protect that right to privacy is to implement effective encryption systems to stop others from viewing or manipulating communications not intended for them. If a government mandate required the inclusion of an intentional flaw or back door, it would only be a matter of time before a bad actor, possibly an enemy nation state, discovered and exploited it without our knowledge, potentially causing unforeseen harm to our military readiness. It would be foolish and naive to think that those “back doors” would stay secret and not be discovered and exploited by people other than American law enforcement. Even if it were some master key and not a flaw in an algorithm itself, it would eventually be leaked.
I sympathize with the need to catch criminals who also have access to this technology and use it to commit crimes, but breaking encryption for everybody is not a solution. You don’t ban guns for everybody because a tiny minority of people use them to commit crimes; likewise you shouldn’t break encryption for everybody because a tiny minority use it commit crimes online. Encryption lies at the very heart of almost everything we do online, from online banking to video conferences to Facebook. Some of the same encryption algorithms used to secure data on hard drives is also used to secure and protect the integrity of connections in real time when you’re browsing the internet; such as to stop people from spying on your network traffic and stealing your password when you log into your Facebook account. The military uses it for nearly everything. It’s how we safeguard information on SIPR and JWICS networks. If encryption protocols are intentionally flawed from the beginning, then anything and everything that uses those protocols would also be compromised and subject to spying and manipulation by hackers. It would put everybody at risk and force foreign technology companies to stop operating in and supporting users of their services inside the United States. The messaging service Signal has already openly stated that if a law like this were to pass, they would just pull their resources and stop supporting American users, and right now that includes American service members overseas who use the service to securely communicate with their loved ones back home.
Finally, it’s not the job of the government to be our babysitter, to be able to spy on us at any given moment. Just because the law “says” a warrant would be required doesn’t mean it would actually be used that way in practice. All you have to do is read Edward Snowden’s book to realize how invasive, dangerous, irresponsible and unconstitutional it would be to give our government unfettered access to any and all communications. If you break encryption, it’s broken for everybody. There is no wiggle room on the issue. It doesn’t matter what your personal intention is, encryption either works, or it doesn’t, and if it’s broken, it’s broken, at which point, why even bother using it in the first place? Why not just put all your classified data on the public internet in plain text, because it may end up there anyway if you cripple the very mechanisms by which it is protected. I love my country and I love its people. I want the United States to be strong and to prosper. I even served in its military and received an honorable discharge, which is more than most of the people introducing these bills can say. That said, while I do believe that many of the people working in Washington probably just want to make this country a better place, I do not trust the government of the United States, as a whole, to always act in my best interests. From intentionally infecting people with syphilis and lying about it, to falsifying war crimes to justify going into Vietnam, to the Snowden/NSA revelations, the American government has proven over and over again that it cannot be trusted to always act in the best interests of its citizens, and if you break encryption, you’ll be giving corrupt politicians and government agencies, including foreign ones, the power to spy on anybody at any time at the drop of a hat. You will turn the United States into a surveillance state where we have no privacy. If you think this bill is a good idea, then you might as well call up Xi Jinping and give him a security clearance, then burn the constitution, starting with the 4th amendment.
Sincerely:
Marcus Dean Adams
Gerowen's Corner 