Encryption

The Golden Age of Surveillance

Last Wednesday I had the privilege of testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the balance between public safety and encryption. I have been researching and writing on encryption for two decades, including serving on President Obama’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology. My testimony stressed three arguments

First, I agree that there are indeed specific ways that law enforcement and national security agencies lose specific previous capabilities due to changing encryption technology. These specific losses, however, are more than offset by massive gains, including: (1) location information; (2) information about contacts and confederates; and (3) an array of new databases that create digital dossiers about individuals’ lives.