Committee Releases Updated Encryption Report

Press Release

The Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Michael McCaul today released an update to the committee's report on encryption and its impact on law enforcement and counterterrorism efforts. The original report, entitled "Going Dark, Going Forward," was produced by the Majority Staff of the House Homeland Security Committee and released in June 2016.

Terror attacks in Paris, Brussels, and Nice prompted significant developments on the topic of encryption with respect to legislative proposals taken by European nations, further illustrating the point that without a robust, fact-based dialogue on the encryption question, legislators world-wide will continue to struggle with the best possible response. Based on these developments and continued engagement with stakeholders, today the Committee published an updated version of this report.

Chairman McCaul: "The recent developments in this area highlight that the encryption issue is not going away. 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."

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