The White House is soliciting comments on the “encryption debate” which is happening. I would encourage everybody to submit comments. The higher the volume of comments made, the more that lawmakers will realize that this is an important issue that people care about. To submit your own comments, go to https://www.whitehouse.gov/webform/share-your-thoughts-onstrong-encryption.
The President needs to state, strongly and unequivocally, that he supports the use of strong encryption, which protects American businesses, American Internet users, as well as democratic activists the world over.
A who’s-who of the leading cryptographers in this country have repeatedly written and spoken about the fact that creating an exceptional access program which is still secure is not technically feasible. Some politicians and law enforcement officials have chosen to ignore that, implying that the cryptographic community is either lying about this (for God knows what reason), or that they just haven’t tried hard enough. It’s important to note that the cryptographic community’s argument isn’t that it is hard to create a secure exceptional access program, but that it is mathematically impossible. To suggest that an entire community of leading cryptographers is lying about the problems involved in an exceptional access program is disturbing.
It is also important for the President, and other lawmakers, to understand that the United States’ policies in this area serve as an example to other countries. If the USA decides that encryption backdoors should be mandated, then other countries, which are more authoritarian and have a more problematic human rights record, will be embolded to attempt to require the same thing. In order to lead the world in attempts to keep the Internet safe and secure, it is important for the USA to be on the right side of this decision.
Workentin's Cybersecurity Blog 