So You Want to Design an Encryption Backdoor

Law enforcement officials have often called for regulation of encryption technology, to improve their ability to access data when they have a valid court order. This has generated a lot of debate and controversy, but surprisingly little public discussion has been devoted to the details of how an encryption regulation might actually work. This talk will dig into the details of encryption regulation, to consider specific options for how a regulation might be written, how companies might change product designs and users might change their behavior as a result, and how these changes might affect equities such as public safety, cybersecurity, privacy, civil liberties, and economic competitiveness. No recommendation for or against regulation will be offered. Instead, the goal will be to explore the decision space and point toward a more substantive public debate.

Ed Felten is the director of CITP and served at the White House as the Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer from June 2015 to January 2017. Ed was also the first chief technologist for the Federal Trade Commission from January 2011 until September 2012. His research interests include computer security and privacy, and public policy issues relating to information technology. Specific topics include software security, Internet security, electronic voting, cybersecurity policy, technology for government transparency, network neutrality and Internet policy.

Ed often blogs about technology and policy at Freedom to Tinker.