Administration Won't Seek Holes In Encryption... But That's Just THIS Administration
I don't normally recommend Lawfare, seeing as it's generally filled with NSA apologia and has been known to host the complaints of FBI directors who apparently just don't have enough outlets for crypto-related spleen-venting. But Hoover Institute cyber-policy/security scholar Herb Lin makes a few good points about the administration's decision to brush that backdoor dirt off its shoulders.
As pleasantly surprised as we may be by this decision to not screw with encryption to appease FBI director James Comey and other law enforcement officials, this unofficial (and mildly disingenuous) policy may be very short-lived .In the absence of legislation, executive branch policy can stand only until the next administration. Thus, even if the present admin had said that it would *never* seek a legislative or technical back door to encrypted products or services (according to the NY Times, a statement sought by Tim Cook), it would not necessarily have had a binding effect past January 2017.In other words, vote like your privacy and security depends on it. Given the current selection of possible candidates, this may prove to be difficult. The only candidates who seem likely to continue this hands-off approach would be Rand Paul and (possibly) Bernie Sanders.



