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California Bill Would Require Phone Crypto Backdoors
Trailrunner7 writes with this except from On The Wire: A week after a New York legislator introduced a bill that would require smartphone vendors to be able to decrypt users' phones on demand from law enforcement, a California bill with the same intent has been introduced in that state's assembly. On Wednesday, California Assemblyman Jim Cooper submitted a bill that has remarkably similar language to the New York measure and would require that device manufacturers and operating system vendors such as Apple, Samsung, and Google be able to decrypt users' devices. The law would apply to phones sold in California beginning Jan. 1, 2017.
Of course, "smartphone vendors" wouldn't be able to decrypt voice calls sent using VoIP software that was encrypted outside their domain of influence.
the NSA probably paid nothing. the vendors "paid nothing" as well. this is a $hakedown of the vendors. campaign donations or else.
When I take out my SIM card, my phone still boots.
But fails to penetrate a device used by organized crime, terrorists, a technologically adept pedophile, or a well connected businessman.
Is Joe the Plumber the threat here? because that's about all this regulation will stop.
PS - I usually buy my smartphones on aliexpress and import them to California.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
During initial set up, flip on encryption... there you go, you can have that one for free Apple...
Even if they close that loophole (which it looks like the current proposals do) an even simpler way is to just not carry them in stores in those states. So you just take online orders and ship from states without these laws. And if that's not practical, (i.e. they need foot traffic in the stores) just have two separate SKUs: One for NY/CA, and another for everywhere else. If those people want an uncompromised device, they can just order from elsewhere, and electronics stores would operate kind of like Tesla showrooms when it comes to smartphones.
I miss the cold war.
Back in the good old days the "free west", would tout it's political and social freedom as why it was on the side of humanity.
Something for the oppressed behind the iron curtain to dream of attaining and seeing their over lords for the tyrants they were.
Then down came the Berlin Wall.
Today you'd think the history books on the communist era in east Europe were the manuals/manifestos for state control in the West.
The only thing our governments needs to be better than today is IS.