Locked In: OTI Supports the ENCRYPT Act

Today, Reps. Lieu (D-Calif.-33), DelBene (D-Wash.-1), Bishop (R-Mich.-8) and Jordan (R- Ohio-4) reintroduced the Ensuring National Constitutional Rights for Your Private Telecommunications Act (ENCRYPT Act). New America’s Open Technology Institute supports this bill, which is identical to the version that was first introduced in 2016.

The ENCRYPT Act would prohibit states from mandating or requesting that any technology company “design or alter the security functions in its product or service to allow the surveillance of any user of such product or service, or to allow the physical search of such product” by law enforcement. It would also ensure that no state could prohibit the sale or manufacture of encrypted devices or services.

The following statement can be attributed to Robyn Greene, policy counsel and government affairs lead at New America’s Open Technology Institute:

“Despite a wave of news stories and an Inspector General report showing that encryption is not the insurmountable obstacle that the FBI, prosecutors, and state and local police claim, the second Crypto War is unrelenting. Law enforcement has lost credibility in this debate, and Congress should reject their continuing calls for legislation to help them break encryption. We welcome the introduction of the ENCRYPT Act as a step toward putting this endless debate over encryption backdoors to bed once and for all.”