Encryption

Restricting Encryption Would Not Have Prevented the Paris Attacks


An attempt to hobble encryption would likely be very harmful to the U.S. economy. Some of its most valuable sectors, like online banking, e-commerce, and R&D, would not be able to survive without strong cryptography, according to research from the Niskanen Center, a liber­tari­an think tank and ad­vocacy or­gan­iz­a­tion. And if U.S. companies were barred from using strong encryption, it’s likely they would lose business to competitors abroad who would continue to offer security.

Without strong encryption, the trust every consumer relies on when sending a sensitive document, submitting credit-card information, or entering a social-security number online, will crumble. Sacrificing digital privacy would not make Americans more secure—it would leave both individuals and the economy more vulnerable.