US bill seems to foreshadow end-to-end encryption restrictions

An American bill seems to be in the process of limiting encryption of data stored at tech companies. The proposal, which has not yet been put to the vote, could oblige companies to cooperate in certain criminal cases, including child abuse.

This is reported by Bloomberg news agency, based on a bill that it has seen. No publicly available text has yet been released. According to Bloomberg, the bill, called Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies, doesn’t literally talk about end-to-end encryption, but it does appear to have an impact on it.

For example, it is proposed to oblige companies to cooperate in the storage and handing over of data in criminal cases. Among other things, this could prevent companies from using end-to-end encryption without a backdoor, because they would then be unable to hand over useful data to authorities.

According to the bill, best practices must be developed that tech companies must adhere to. If they don’t, they could lose the legal immunity they now have under US telecom law. However, it is not yet clear which best practices these are. As a result, the exact impact on the use of encryption cannot yet be estimated.

Incidentally, the plans do not come as a surprise. Attorney General William Barr has spoken out against end-to-end encryption, asking Apple and Facebook, among others, to help unlock data.