Jim Cooper

California lawmaker wants to ban phone encryption in 2017

California lawmaker, State Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove), has introduced a bill that would effectively ban the sale of mobile devices that have encryption on by default beginning in 2017. The bill, AB 1681, demands that any phone sold after January 1, 2017 be "capable of being decrypted and unlocked by its manufacturer or its operating system provider." Should this bill become law, manufacturers found in violation would be subject to fines of $2,500 per phone.