Heres what the bill says, and what you’re able to do about it.
The FBI demanded that Apple create a tool to get around the phones PIN lock.
Apple argued this was an undue burden and would weaken the security of all iPhones.
A preliminary version of the so-called Compliance With Court Orders Act of 2016"was released last Friday.
This version isnt necessarily final, but its already pretty terrible.
Unless major changes are made, this bill is dangerous to anyone who values their security.
In other words, a company cant say Thats impossible and call it a day.
It must be in an intelligible format.
This means the company must have the ability to translate encrypted data to a readable format.
However, somewhat confusingly, it very deliberatelydoesntsay how Apple must accomplish this.
Instead, it simply mandates that Apple must do thissomehow.
It also says that Apples job wouldnt be done until the government decided it was done.
The scope of the bill also extends to app stores.
At best, it legally mandates a lengthy security audit on every single communications app in the store.
At worst, it requires app store owners to dictate which security features that developers can use.
No matter how you interpret it, its a bad sign.
One of the biggest problems is that what it requires may not actually be possible in many situations.
For example, WhatsApp recentlyenabled end-to-end encryption on all messages.
Google has done the same with Gmail for a long time.
Under this law,strong security practices would be illegal.
The bill also might not even be necessary.
However, Apple has helped law enforcement extract data from other iPhones under different circumstancesmany times before.
The FBI and the NSA and the CIA shouldnt come crawling to Silicon Valley to break phones or encryption.
you’re free to find information on how to hit up the offices ofSenator Burr hereandSenator Feinstein here.
you could alsouse 4USXUSto find information on your Senators and Representatives and get contact info.
you’re free to alsouse Democracy.io to contact them easilywithout hunting for contact info.
Gizmodo also has a roundup ofthe computer security views of each presidential candidatecurrently running for the office.
In the meantime, its always a good time toreach out to your Congressional representationto make your voice heard.
Illustration by Sam Woolley.
