FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Chris Grimm — cgrimm@appsalliance.org
Statement from Jake Ward, Application Developers Alliance President on Calls for Government Access to Encrypted Communications
Washington, D.C. (December 10, 2015) – The following is a statement from Jake Ward, Application Developers Alliance President regarding proposed legislation that would require companies to provide government agencies with access to encrypted communications.
“As Congress considers mandating special access to otherwise secure technologies, members should know that end-to-end encryption plays an integral role in innovation, economic growth, and crime prevention. Software vulnerabilities – even those only intended for use by trusted government entities – can weaken security and allow bad actors, including hackers, to access sensitive and private information.
“The widespread deployment of end-to-end encryption is the result of market demands. Consumers rightly demand the communications they send over the Internet and store online remain private, as does our Constitution. The White House, States’ Attorneys General, Federal Trade Commission, and even the FBI are just some of the major voices that have or are advocating for robust end-to-end encryption to protect sensitive and personal data. End-to-end encryption is good for the American people and should be supported by law enforcement authorities worldwide.
“The goal of making it more difficult for bad actors to conspire over the internet is laudable. However, Congress must carefully consider the consequences of weakening security, which will erode the public’s trust in our digital ecosystem and could expose our most personal and sensitive data.
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The Application Developers Alliance is a non-profit global membership organization that supports developers as creators, innovators, and entrepreneurs. We promote app industry growth and advocate on behalf of our members on public policy and industry issues. The Alliance serves more than 36,000 individual members and more than 200 companies, including app publishers, platforms, wireless carriers, hardware manufacturers, ad networks, enterprise tools and service providers.
