A new bill (PDF) introduced by members of the House and Senate would force smartphone makers to crack encryption on devices any time law enforcement asks.
A draft of the bill, submitted by Senators Diane Feinstein of California and Richard Burr of North Carolina, says tech firms “must provide in a timely manner responsive, intelligible information or data, or appropriate technical assistance to obtain such information.”
Feinstein and Burr have been threatening such legislation since last year, but the notion has taken a new direction ever since the FBI asked Apple to help decrypt an iPhone and Apple refused.
The bill doesn’t spell out criminal or civil penalties that might be involved for companies that refuse. If passed into law, the Compliance with Court Orders Act of 2016 would largely negate the benefits of using encryption on mobile devices, which are meant to protect personal information.
