09 April 2016•Update: 19 April 2016
By Barry Eitel
SAN FRANCISCO
A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House and Senate introduced legislation Friday that would require smartphone manufacturers to decrypt devices if law enforcement agencies request assistance.
The bill states that tech firms “must provide in a timely manner responsive, intelligible information or data, or appropriate technical assistance to obtain” information related to investigations.
The legislation comes as the FBI said it will continue a legal battle against Apple regarding encrypted iPhones.
The government filed court documents Friday claiming that it will resume its suit against the tech giant to get assistance to unlock an iPhone related to drug crimes in the state of New York.
“The government’s application is not moot,” U.S. Attorney Robert L. Capers said in the filing, “and the government continues to require Apple’s assistance in accessing the data that it is authorized to search by warrant.”
Apple has not commented on the new bill or filing.
In addition, another judge on Friday ordered Apple to assist the FBI in a gang-related case in Boston.
The court order asked the company to provide "technical assistance" for "extracting data from the device," according to the judge in the case.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department and the tech company prepared for a possible precedent-setting trial over whether Apple should be required to help the FBI unlock a work iPhone issued to one of the alleged gunmen in a terror attack in California.
As Apple appeared to shore up public opinion, the government backed down from seeking a judgement against the iPhone maker and claimed that an “outside party” had assisted in unlocking the smartphone in question.
Apple and other tech experts argued that helping the government unlock the device would make millions of iPhone owners vulnerable to hackers – and likely require the company to comply with decryption requests from more autocratic governments such as China.
With the new bill under review by federal legislators and a renewed legal push, however, it appears that the government is not setting aside the encryption issue.
