Yesterday, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) introduced the Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act, legislation that would require technology companies to help law enforcement agencies to access encrypted data.

The Senators’ assertion that “[warrant-proof] encryption adds little to the security of the communications of the ordinary user”¹ is incorrect. “Warrant-proof” encryption, their name for strong encryption without backdoors, is required to prevent sensitive data from falling into the hands of malicious individuals over the Internet, as can be seen by the sheer number of zero-day exploits that are discovered being used by hackers in the wild every month.

This legislation would also deal a severe blow to the freedom of the press, who rely on strong encryption when reporting on the activities of tyrannical regimes. Banning such encryption would, in fact, place the United States government several steps closer to tyranny itself, and would inevitably result in the abridgement of the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Amendments to the Constitution.

I urge my readers to contact their Senators and express their opposition to the Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act. This is a moment to take a stand for freedom.

~RP

1: Graham, Cotton, Blackburn Introduce Balanced Solution to Bolster National Security, End Use of Warrant-Proof Encryption that Shields Criminal Activity. (2020, June 23). Retrieved June 24, 2020, from https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/rep/releases/graham-cotton-blackburn-introduce-balanced-solution-to-bolster-national-security-end-use-of-warrant-proof-encryption-that-shields-criminal-activity