Guardians of Your Galaxy S7: Encryption Backdoors and the First Amendment

Barr*, Allen C.
Minnesota Law Review 101 (2016): 301
https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mlr/140

“On December 2, 2015, two armed individuals killed four-teen people in San Bernardino, California. In the aftermath of the shooting, investigators began looking into evidence they could obtain from the shooters’ electronic devices. However, when they did so, they were met with a roadblock: encryption. Encryption is everywhere, from toasters to televisions. Encryption is the key to privacy in the digital era; it makes secure online banking, trading, and purchasing possible. The use of encryption, however, comes with law enforcement costs. While encryption may make it impossible for a criminal to hack your bank account, it may also make it impossible for law enforcement to gain access to that criminal’s information, even after a court has held that such access is a lawful search and seizure. In response to these issues, law enforcement personnel have sought to push technology companies towards implementing tools that would allow them to bypass encryption when needed as part of an investigation. Technology companies on the other hand, spurred by the Edward Snowden revelations of 2013, have been very reluctant to comply, fearing the backlash of customer reaction they believe would accompany it. Thus, rather than seeking voluntary assistance from software developers, some individuals in law enforcement have begun to push for legislation on so-called “encryption backdoors,” tools that would provide for government access to encrypted communications.”

— Allen Cook Barr

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