This just leaked: two Senators are about to introduce a bill that would ban strong encryption in the U.S. [1]
It’s called the ‘Compliance with Court Orders Act of 2016,’ and it’s being pushed by surveillance-loving Senators Burr and Feinstein. [2]
A leaked draft of the text was just posted online, and it’s worse than we feared.
If a bill like this passes, it would essentially mandate government backdoors into every type of technology that we use. [3]
Our phones. Our computers. Online banking. Messaging services. VPNs. Everything.
It would require private companies to assist the government by weakening their own security––even if it would put all of their customers in serious danger.
Experts are saying this is one of the most ridiculous, technologically illiterate, and outright dangerous pieces of legislation that Congress has cooked up. Ever. [4]
We’re going to make sure it never becomes law. But once it’s introduced, it could move really fast so we need your help right now.
Legislation that outlaws encryption wouldn’t just decimate our privacy and civil liberties, it would be terrible for national security and public safety.
Security experts, and even Intelligence officials like the former head of the NSA (!), agree that strong, end-to-end encryption makes all of us safer. [5]
Backdoors in encryption, on the other hand, put all of us in danger.
They’re just government mandated security vulnerabilities that can be exploited by anyone who can find them.
So this bill wouldn’t just make it easier for the FBI to hack your phone, it would make it easier for criminals to hack your bank account, or for terrorists to hack a power plant.
An idea this bad could only come out of U.S. Congress. But fortunately, we have a solid track record of stopping misguided legislation like this in its tracks.
Click here to chip in $5 (or more!) to stop Congress from banning encryption!
We’ll be watching this bill closely and we’ll let you know as soon as it’s introduced.
In the meantime, we need to build the tools we know will help us stop it:
- A beautiful, professional website that explains the bill in clear terms that everyone can understand
- Social media content and press materials to get the word out and sound the alarm
- A tool to make it easy for people to email and call their lawmakers to stop this
Will you chip in to make all of this critical work possible?
This fight will define the future. We’re glad to have you on our side.
For the Internet,
-Evan at Fight for the Future
Sources:
[1] Vice Magazine: http://motherboard.vice.com/
[2] Draft bill text: https://www.scribd.com/doc/
[3] Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/
[4] Wired: http://www.wired.com/2016/04/
[5] USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/story/
