White House Refuses To Back Encryption Law

The White House has apparently refused to publicly back a law that would deem it necessary for tech companies to obey decryption requests, according a report by Reuters. The move will be a setback for law enforcement that is already facing stumbling blocks in criminal investigation, due to data inaccessibility policies on phones and mobile apps.  

Reuters spoke to unnamed sources within the White House who claimed there to be a division in opinions regarding violation of individual privacy. The administration doesn't want to push a bill that necessitates Apple and other tech firms to comply with decryption requests. The bill was proposed by senators Dianne Feinstein and Richard Burr in the wake of the San Bernardino iPhone case.

The sources further said that the White house is reading the document carefully and will offer feedback; however no public announcements will be made, even if it backs the law. According to Reuters, the move comes across as a political one due to the impending elections. The non cooperation will relegate the issue to the back, spelling further obstacles in the path of law enforcement.

According to recent data collected by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and USA TODAY, it was found that law enforcement could not access the content over 100 mobile phones and apps. The stringent encryption on smartphones comes in the way of successfully resolving impending cases by the investigative authorities.

Earlier this week, Whatsapp introduced end-to-end encryption on messages, which will make it tougher for third party access to information. In February this year, Apple was ordered by a federal judge to comply with the FBI to release a special mobile operating system that would enable access to data present on the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone. Apple turned down the decryption request. There is an ongoing debate about the unavailability of crucial data needed by law enforcement, due to strict encryption and privacy rules.