President Obama stated in an interview that he believes in strong encryption.
While law enforcement agencies, especially those most intent on controlling user data, support the need to have access to personal information, President Obama stated in an interview that he believes in strong encryption.
He explained that the issue of privacy versus security is a complex one that comes with trade-offs regarding security.
The tech giants, on the one hand, implemented customer privacy protections and closed the door used by the US National Security Agency (NSA) to mass collect their data, while on the other hand, the NSA says this activity was necessary to combat terrorism.
“I lean probably further on the side of strong encryption,” Obama said in an interview.
The President argued that the general public could hold law enforcement accountable for not pursuing an item because of technical issues, such as encryption.
No mention was made during the interview of the case where encryption makes research more difficult.
However, an organization with access to information about a potential future attack and failing to identify the evidence in order to prevent an incident is not unheard of.
Obama said he understood that the needs of both sides were real and that private communication should not be compromised. “There is no scenario in which we don’t want really strong encryption,” the President said.
