WASHINGTON — A draft version of a Senate bill would effectively prohibit unbreakable encryption and require companies to help the government access data on a computer or mobile device with a warrant.
The draft is being finalized by the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and the top Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.
Their goal, they said in a statement, is to ensure adherence to any court order that requires helping law enforcement or providing decrypted information. “No individual or company is above the law.”
It was not immediately clear when they would introduce the bill.
The draft language ran into opposition from another committee member, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
“They would be required by federal law per this statute to decide how to weaken their products to make Americans less safe,” he said. Wyden pledged to do fight the plan.
The emerging measure follows the Justice Department’s battle with Apple Inc. over access to an encrypted and locked iPhone.
