Congress Will Screw Up Privacy---and We Will Resist

Across the country, evidence lockers are filling up with smartphones that contain potentially critical crime-solving information. But they’re locked, and at the moment it’s not clear whether the government has the right to require built-in access channels. True, the Apple-FBI showdown over the passcode-protected iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters ended with the agency backing down. But the transition to a Trump White House and a Republican-dominated Congress all but guarantees new legislation. (Remember, Trump is serious about “the cyber.”) And that’s worrisome: Congress seems unable to account for the nuance of tech evolution—last April it proposed legislation that would essentially make personal encryption illegal. But as pressure from law enforcement and intelligence agencies mounts, legislators will be more likely than ever to construct laws that bulldoze protections, whether that’s forcing companies to break their own security protocols or putting back doors in the encryption standards adopted by your favorite messaging apps. This is the year everyone—not just techno-libertarians in tinfoil hats—becomes a privacy advocate.