Stopping Terrorists From ‘Going Dark’

[Commentary] While the terrorist attacks in Paris, San Bernardino (CA), and Garland (TX), have brought discussions about encryption to the front pages, criminals in the US have been using this technology for years to cover their tracks. The time has come for Congress and technology companies to discuss how encryption -- encoding messages to protect their content -- is enabling murderers, pedophiles, drug dealers and, increasingly, terrorists. Technology has outpaced the law. The core statute, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, was enacted in 1994, more than a decade before the iPhone existed. The law requires telecommunications carriers -- for instance, phone companies -- to build into their equipment the capability for law enforcement to intercept communications in real time. The problem is that it doesn’t apply to other providers of electronic communications, including those supporting encrypted applications.

I and other lawmakers in Washington would like to work with America’s leading tech companies to solve this problem, but we fear they may balk. When Apple objected to a recent court order in a New York criminal case requiring it to unlock an iPhone running iOS 7 -- an operating system that Apple can unlock -- the company refused, arguing: “This is a matter for Congress to decide.” On that point, Apple and I agree. It’s time to update the law.