Well, that didn't take long:
As Paris reels from terrorist attacks that have claimed at least 128 lives, fierce blame for the carnage is being directed toward American whistleblower Edward Snowden and the spread of strong encryption catalyzed by his actions.
Now the Paris attacks are being used an excuse to demand backdoors.
CIA Director John Brennan chimed in, too.
Of course, this was planned all along. From September:
Privately, law enforcement officials have acknowledged that prospects for congressional action this year are remote. Although "the legislative environment is very hostile today," the intelligence community's top lawyer, Robert S. Litt, said to colleagues in an August e-mail, which was obtained by The Post, "it could turn in the event of a terrorist attack or criminal event where strong encryption can be shown to have hindered law enforcement."
There is value, he said, in "keeping our options open for such a situation."
I was going to write a definitive refutation to the meme that it's all Snowden's fault, but Glenn Greenwald beat me to it.
EDITED TO ADD: It wasn't fair for me to characterize Ben Wittes's Lawfare post as agitating for back doors. I apologize.
Better links are thesetwoNew York Times stories.
Tags: back doors, cryptography, Edward Snowden, France, terrorism
Posted on November 16, 2015 at 2:39 PM • 56 Comments
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