Last week, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) released an update to the Committee’s report on encryption. The original report, “Going Dark, Going Forward,” was released in June 2016. It was drafted by Republican staff of the Homeland Security Committee and represents an in-depth congressional analysis on the issue of encryption. Over the course of more than a year, Committee Members and staff held more than 150 meetings with key stakeholders—including representatives from federal, state, and local law enforcement, the technology industry, privacy groups, academia, and the intelligence community.
The report describes the important themes and considerations surrounding the widespread use of encryption technologies, the ways in which various governments around the world are responding to the issue, and why future progress in addressing the challenges will likely depend on a more formal national discussion. As a result of their investigation, the Committee determined that there is no silver bullet when it comes to encryption and “going dark.” The Committee concluded that the best way to move forward is to formally convene a commission of experts to examine the issue of encryption and law enforcement’s future in light of constantly evolving technology.
The report also lays the groundwork for a National Commission on Digital Security and Technology Challenges, an idea proposed by Chairman McCaul and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) in early 2016. Chairman McCaul has said that a National Commission would “bring the key players to the table to develop recommendations for maintaining privacy and digital security, while also finding ways to keep criminals and terrorists from exploiting these technologies to escape justice.”
The Committee’s update to their report was prompted by the recent terror attacks in Paris, Brussels, and Nice, and the subsequent legislative actions taken by European nations to address the implications of encryption on counterterrorism and law enforcement. Chairman McCaul said, “[t]he recent developments in this area highlight that the encryption issue is not going away. On the contrary, it continues to be a major challenge to law enforcement and the intelligence community around the world. The United States should be leading efforts to develop a sustainable, sensible solution. Instead, we are sitting on our hands and doing nothing.”
The updated report, “Going Dark, Going Forward Version 2.0,” is available here.
