The debate over installing government backdoors in consumer technology reached a new stage recently, when Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) asked the Department of Justice to stop pursing the practice. Ari Schwartz, managing director of cybersecurity services at Venable, says that tech companies and policymakers are weighing multiple kinds of public safety in their positions.
“We are getting to a better understanding that this is a security vs. security debate. As we increase cybersecurity, we run into more problems with law enforcement,” Schwartz said. “There’s mutual recognition that law enforcement does have problems accessing, yes we are going to be encrypting more because that is good for cybersecurity. That is a positive step from my point of view, that we are getting the acknowledgment we didn’t have in the past.”
