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The Encryption Debate
Week 7
Week 7 (Nov. 8, 2023): The Encryption Debate
This week, we’ll discuss the legal framework in the United States for the encryption technologies you studied with Prof. Stamos. We’ll go over the government’s past efforts to use existing laws to try to compel the providers of encrypted devices and communications services to decrypt customer data for law enforcement. We’ll also examine the policy debate over whether to change existing law to constrain online service providers’ and device manufacturers’ ability to provide their users (i.e., you) with strong encryption that does not include a mechanism for the provider or law enforcement to access to the plaintext of the encrypted data.
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