In the name of upholding the rule of law and giving justice to crimes such as terrorism, child pornography and the likes, the U.S. Senate has officially released the draft of the highly controversial encryption bill and it has since then received criticisms from Cybersecurity advocates.
The piece of legislation, titled "Compliance and Court Orders Act," if turned into an effective law will be asking certain tech companies like Apple, Inc. to assist and give intelligence information on encrypted devices upon court order, as per the Bill Discussion draft in Scribd.
The highly controversial encryption bill, which touches on privacy issues on the web and other threats to hacking personal information by unintended parties, were endorsed by the Senate intelligence Committee's Republican chair and top Democrat Senators Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein, as per Reuters.
Also, according to them the released draft is seen as an opportunity for good and healthy intelligent discussion to be opened. "I am hopeful that this draft will start a meaningful and inclusive debate on the role of encryption and its place within the rule of law," Burr said, according to the publication. "Based on initial feedback, I am confident that the discussion has begun," he added.
Furthermore, the purposes of the bill, which are to break into encrypted devices or communications for law enforcement or intelligence, are also eyed for crimes to be avoided such as death or serious injury or that involve drug offenses or child victims, the news agency adds.
However, this is not pleasing for advocates with cybersecurity concerns as the bill would also open unintended parties or hackers to break in as well and might cause more crimes, the news outlet reports. "This flawed bill would leave Americans more vulnerable to stalkers, identity thieves, foreign hackers and criminals," Democratic Senator Ron Wyden in a statement, as per the publication.
In addition, Chris Doggett, senior vice president of cybersecurity company, Carbonite, strongly oppose the bill because of its trade-offs, CNet reports. "We make it all too easy for a wide variety of actors out there in the world to access people's data," Doggett said, as per the publication.
"This is exactly what we've been fighting against for so long," he added. "To prevent data breaches, to prevent intellectual property from being stolen from companies."
As the discussion opens, Burr urges that "data is too insecure and feel strongly that consumers have a right to seek solutions that protect their information -- which involves strong encryption," Burr said, as per the news agency, adding, "I do not believe, however, that those solutions should be above the law."
