Obama Sees Need for Encryption Backdoor

Cameron Describes a 'Front Door' to Circumvent Encryption
BankInfoSecurity
Jan. 17, 2015

lthough President Obama said he sees the need for law enforcement to gain access to encrypted data on a suspected terrorist's digital device, he stopped short of calling for a law to require manufacturers to provide a so-called "backdoor" to break encryption on mobile devices.

At a Jan. 16 White House joint press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron, Obama said his administration is discussing with device manufacturers and software providers ways for authorities to gain access to the encrypted data without compromising the privacy and civil liberties of citizens.

"The dialogue that we're engaged in is designed to make sure that all of us feel confident that if there is an actual threat out there, our law enforcement and our intelligence officers can identify that threat and track that threat at the same time that our governments are not going around fishing into whatever text you might be sending on your smart phone," Obama said.

Cameron, being less nuanced than the president, reiterated his belief that it's justifiable for authorities to gain access to encrypted data on mobile devices, just as for years, laws and regulations allowed telephone conversations to be tapped or mail intercepted and read.

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