AT&T CEO says US encryption policy is up to Congress, not Apple
US government policies on device encryption should be decided by the public and Congress, not companies like Apple, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said in an interview at the World Economic Forum being held this week in Davos, Switzerland.
"I don't think it is Silicon Valley's decision to make about whether encryption is the right thing to do," Stephenson commented to the Wall Street Journal. I understand [Apple CEO] Tim Cook's decision, but I don't think it's his decision to make."
Cook has become one of the strongest corporate backers of encryption, arguing against demands from some in the U.S. government -- including FBI director James Comey -- for legally-mandated backdoors. Such gaps can make it possible to retrieve important evidence against criminals and terrorists. Cook's position, however, has been that backdoors simply make it easier for hackers, criminals, and spy agencies to steal data or launch attacks.
Earlier this month U.S. President Barack Obama said that government agencies have a legitimate need to sometimes bypass encryption, while respecting the importance of personal privacy.
The full-disk encryption in iOS 8 and 9 is so tough that Apple claims even it can't unlock a device, with or without a warrant. Later versions of Android can be similarly locked down.
In the interview, Stephenson also protested the focus on AT&T in the privacy debate. The company was one of the first to allow the National Security Agency to tap metadata on a mass scale, cooperating closely with the organization to test and install surveillance systems, and even facilitate a court order the NSA wanted to tap Internet chatter at the United Nations in New York City.
"It is silliness to say there's some kind of conspiracy between the U.S. government and AT&T," he said, reiterating the company's claim that it only hands over information when served with a warrant or other court order.
"I don't think it is Silicon Valley's decision to make about whether encryption is the right thing to do," Stephenson commented to the Wall Street Journal. I understand [Apple CEO] Tim Cook's decision, but I don't think it's his decision to make."
Cook has become one of the strongest corporate backers of encryption, arguing against demands from some in the U.S. government -- including FBI director James Comey -- for legally-mandated backdoors. Such gaps can make it possible to retrieve important evidence against criminals and terrorists. Cook's position, however, has been that backdoors simply make it easier for hackers, criminals, and spy agencies to steal data or launch attacks.
Earlier this month U.S. President Barack Obama said that government agencies have a legitimate need to sometimes bypass encryption, while respecting the importance of personal privacy.
The full-disk encryption in iOS 8 and 9 is so tough that Apple claims even it can't unlock a device, with or without a warrant. Later versions of Android can be similarly locked down.
In the interview, Stephenson also protested the focus on AT&T in the privacy debate. The company was one of the first to allow the National Security Agency to tap metadata on a mass scale, cooperating closely with the organization to test and install surveillance systems, and even facilitate a court order the NSA wanted to tap Internet chatter at the United Nations in New York City.
"It is silliness to say there's some kind of conspiracy between the U.S. government and AT&T," he said, reiterating the company's claim that it only hands over information when served with a warrant or other court order.
Comments
how do these bonehead stuffed shirts get to be among the corporate-America elite??
Rant and rave all you want to about privacy and security. You may be right but this is the REAL world we live in.
And that's a rather big "if".
And all those codes held by Apple could always be offline...
It's the same approach I believe could solve the deadlock with gun registration: hold the companies that make the guns responsible (they do have some bit of vested interest in making their customers happy) to follow through with background checks, have full documentation on the entire supply chain for the weapon and where it is, and only release the information when the gov't gets a court order. But for it to work, the gov't would need some assurances of oversight that the companies are following the rules. This oversight would not show any relationship be individual identity and guns owned, but the production path from raw materials to final finished product. This would also have the affect of making sure a gun company doesn't manufactured non-serial numbered guns out the back door to cartels or others in need or desire of guns. There are many more details that are relevant, but the basic gist is to find a path between direct gov't access and no gov't access or accountability.
Not really a mandate of unlocked doors, the 4th specifies a warrant, not no-access ever and the 14th reinforces due-process guarantees..
"Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Where the argument might rest is government's rather naive assumption that were a "backdoor" to be included that only they would ever posses a key whose use would be regulated, perhaps, by a 4th amendment compliant warrant.
I don't often agree with Tim, but I do on this one
* Politicians and AT&T's CEO. Thanks jfc