The White House wants your thoughts on encryption
The US government wants your input on whether the US should protect strong encryption or introduce back doors.
If you've felt that the US government was more than a little tone deaf about the importance of strong encryption, now's your chance to do something about it. In response to a popular petition, the White House is asking for public comments on the encryption debate. You only have to fill out a simple web form to reject mandatory back doors and suggest alternatives that don't violate your privacy.
Whether or not the White House listens is another matter. While it says that it's meeting with the creators of the petition this week, that's news to them -- primary creator (and Electronic Frontier Foundation member) Rainey Reitman notes that no one got in touch. There's also the question of whether or not the administration will understand that a compromise on encryption isn't really possible. Despite repeated warnings that encryption becomes weak the moment you introduce a back door, the government is still convinced that it can have guaranteed surveillance access without hurting security -- it may not change its mind unless it receives a loud and clear objection.
[Image credit: Getty Images]
