California Joins New York In Wanting To Ban Encrypted Phones

When you hear that a phone has encryption has one of its security features, that can only be a good thing, right? Unfortunately for the government, that is only true if they are given backdoor access to your device because if not, they will ban it, or at least are exploring that idea. Recently New York proposed such a bill, and now California has hopped on board with a similar bill as well.

This legislation was introduced by California assembly member Jim Cooper. Basically the idea is similar to what New York has proposed, in which it requires all smartphones manufactured on or after the 1st of January, 2017, to be unlockable by either its manufacturer or its operating system provider. If devices are found not to comply with these regulations, they could be fined $2,500 (presumably per device).

Right now Apple and Google’s phones can’t be unlocked on their ends anymore. Instead what Apple and Google have done is give the keys to the encryption to the users themselves. This means that if asked by law enforcement, neither Apple nor Google can do anything about it even if they wanted to.

Like we said this is pretty much the same bill that was proposed in New York. It also sounds similar to a law that was passed in China which required companies to provide backdoor access to the government. It also seems to be the very opposite of what the Dutch government is asking for, which is for stronger encryption.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Legal, Privacy, Security