"End-to-end encryption" has gone mainstream, which means tech companies can't decrypt messages even when law enforcement has a warrant. The Trump administration says that's taking privacy too far.
KASTE: Federal law already requires phone companies to make sure that police can tap calls. But now the administration wants a similar guarantee for messaging. And a bill recently floated by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham may force the issue. It would strip the tech companies' legal immunity for things posted and sent by their users unless the companies adopt a code of best practices. Privacy experts assume that that code will include a requirement that police get access to encrypted messages. Riana Pfefferkorn with the Stanford Center for Internet and Society says the administration seems to be doing this now because it sees an opening as the public's attitude toward big tech has recently soured.
RIANA PFEFFERKORN: It feels like there is now less trust in large tech companies. And so it may be that the time is ripe to try and introduce this policy goal that has been in the works for quite a while.