Apple and FBI to testify at Congressional encryption hearing
FBI director James Comey and Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell are set to testify.
As the battle between Apple and the FBI over unlocking a terrorist's iPhone rages on, the US House Judiciary committee will discuss encryption next week. The committee scheduled a hearing for next Tuesday (March 1st) where FBI director James Comey will testify alongside Apple SVP and general counsel Bruce Sewell. This isn't the first time the Judiciary committee has met on the subject of encryption, including briefings from both the government and representatives from tech companies.
Next week's hearing follow the recent back and forth between Apple CEO Tim Cook and the US Justice Department over unlocking the cellphone of the terrorist responsible for the attack in San Bernardino, California last December. In an interview last night on ABC News, Cook reiterated that helping authorities unlock the device would be "bad for America." However, the US Department of Justice is trying to force Apple to comply with the FBI request by offering "reasonable technical assistance" to access stored data.
"Americans have a right to strong privacy protections and Congress should fully examine the issue to be sure those are in place while finding ways to help law enforcement fight crime and keep us safe," said committee chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and ranking member John Conyers (D-MI) in a statement.
Many folks in the tech industry have been calling for a discussion on encryption and security between companies and the government, so you can bet we'll tune in next week as the hearing begins. You can stream it from the Judiciary committee's website right here at 1PM on Tuesday.
