House Homeland Security Committee releases update to encryption report

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, released an update on Tuesday to a previous committee report regarding encryption and its impact on law enforcement and counterterrorism.

The original report, titled “Going Dark, Going Forward,” was released by the majority staff of the House Committee on Homeland Security in June.

“The recent developments in this area highlight that the encryption issue is not going away,” McCaul said. “On the contrary, it continues to be a major challenge to law enforcement and the intelligence community around the world. The United States should be leading efforts to develop a sustainable, sensible solution. Instead, we are sitting on our hands and doing nothing. A national commission would bring the key players to the table to develop recommendations for maintaining privacy and digital security, while also finding ways to keep criminals and terrorists from exploiting these technologies to escape justice. Now is the time for action – before the next attack.”

Recent terror attacks in Brussels, Paris and Nice signaled the need for developments on the topic of encryption and legislative actions by European nations. The committee said that a robust, fact-based dialogue would be needed as legislators worldwide continue to struggle with the best actions possible.