End to end encryption once again at risk in the US

Feb 1, 2020 06:38 GMT  ·  By

Tech giants could once again be forced to break into their end-to-end encryption systems, this time by a new law whose purpose would be to protect children online.

Sen. Lindsey Graham has created what it’s called the Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act of 2019, or Earn It, a bill specifically created to allow the law enforcement and tech companies to work closer together against threats like child sexual abuse and exploitation.

The bill is aimed at any company that offers an “interactive computer service,” and this concerns not only cloud systems, but also messaging apps like Apple’s iMessage and Facebook’s WhatsApp, both of which use end-to-end encryption.

The draft law essentially requires tech companies to collaborate with a newly-founded National Commission on Online Child Exploitation and Prevention to “preserve, remove from view and report material relating to child exploitation or child sexual abuse.”

The anti-encryption fight in the US

So technically, companies like Apple and Facebook would be required to block and report infringing content even in their services that use end-to-end encryption. Technically, these firms cannot access data in end-to-end encryption products, so the bill would pretty much force them to break into encryption systems.

If they don’t this, therefore don’t provide the infringing content to the newly-formed commission, tech giants might no longer be protected by the Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which states that companies are offered immunity from liability for their users.

“No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider,” the legislation reads.

The good news is that this is still a draft law for the time being, but it’s pretty clear that tech companies are under pressure to break their encryption systems. Apple has made the headlines several times in this regard in the last month after both the FBI and President Donald Trump requested the company to hack into iPhones used by criminals in the United States.

Apple has so far denied to do so, claiming that breaking the encryption would expose all customers.