Internet group hits draft encryption bill

A top industry organization on Monday joined the chorus of tech and privacy groups outraged by a leaked draft of an encryption bill that they say would force tech companies to make their products less secure.

“Mandating the weakening of encryption will put the United States’ national security and global competitiveness at risk without corresponding benefits,” Internet Association President Michael Beckerman said in a statement. “As the Administration considers its response to the bill, we hope President Obama takes a position that supports the use of strong encryption without backdoors.”

{mosads}Under the language in a discussion draft of the bill, first obtained by The Hill last week, companies would have to give “technical assistance” to authorities trying to access encrypted data.

That worries many in the tech industry who feel that they will be asked to compromise a core feature of their products by either assisting law enforcement or building “backdoors” into their products in the first place.

“The draft legislation, as currently written, creates a mandate that companies engineer vulnerabilities into their products or services, which will harm national security and put Americans at risk,” Beckerman said.

His group represents companies including Google and Facebook.

The bill, spearheaded by Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), comes on the heels of a closely watched battle between the FBI and Apple over whether the tech giant should be required to help the bureau break into an iPhone used by one of the perpetrators of last year’s terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif.

The FBI eventually backed down after purchasing a tool that allowed its investigators to access the data.

The White House has yet to weigh in publicly on the Burr-Feinstein legislation, but the administration has denied reports that officials have decided not to back the bill.