According to reports, the White House declined to offer public support to the law that would enable federal judges to order tech giants to help break into encrypted data. The same reports explain that the Obama administration’s refusal to either endorse or oppose the law stems from ongoing battles over encryption. This is despite statements from Barack Obama clearly showing that he supported DoJ efforts to allow for legally unlocking the encrypted devices. However, Obama didn’t comment about the case brought against Apple to force it help break into a San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone.



The case against Apple was dropped just a few days ago, with the FBI claiming it had found a way to hack into the phone without Apple’s help. This claim has sparked new calls for a legislative solution to the encryption issue.

The law is expected to introduce in the nearest future after being prepared for several months. The White House has reviewed the text and offered feedback, but the reports say that it is expected to provide minimal or none of public input.

The proposed bill does not provide the procedure for the companies to provide access to data. Nor it mentions the circumstances under which the developers could be ordered to help. The bill contains no specific penalties for noncompliance either.

It should be noted that the White House in 2015 backed away from pursuing legislation forcing US tech giants to provide a “back door” in their products to access encrypted data. Now the largest tech firms call on Congress to solve the problem of criminals or terrorists using encryption in order to avoid surveillance. Another proposal to form a national encryption commission is not expected to be enacted in 2016 either.