Senators draft bill prohibiting ‘unbreakable’ encryption

The top members of the Senate Intelligence Committee are drafting a bill that would prohibit encryption technology that is unbreakable by authorities.

{mosads}Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat, are finalizing the draft, which also requires technology companies to help provide authorities with access to encrypted cell phones or computers when they obtain a warrant.

“No individual or company is above the law,” the senators said in a joint statement.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), an outspoken advocate of cyber privacy rights, pushed back against the proposal, saying it would force “American companies to build a backdoor” into their devices.

“They would be required by federal law per this statute to decide how to weaken their products to make Americans less safe,” he said, adding that he would do “everything in my power” to block the bill.

The proposal comes in the wake of an aborted showdown between Apple and the Department of Justice over the encrypted cell phone of one of the suspects in the San Bernardino shootings.

Prosecutors initially attempted to force the company to help them break into the phone, which Apple resisted, saying that it would compromise the security of all their devices. The Justice Department later dropped the motion after they said that a third party is helping them break the encryption.