Examines a debate surrounding the encryption of data and communications, namely, that strong encryption is essential to the privacy of the public & private sector(s) yet has the ability to complicate important law enforcement investigations – citing the “2016 San Bernardino legal dispute between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Apple.” As such, the Report serves to expand upon the associated 2018 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) study, focusing specifically on mobile phone encryption. The stated goals of the Encryption Working Group are: to (1) promote “pragmatic and constructive” debate regarding the challenges and benefits of encryption use, (2) identify common ground among diverse perspectives, and (3) propose new ways to “evaluate the societal impact” of proposed initiatives that “address the impasse over law enforcement access to encrypted data.” Finally, the Report shares a decision-making framework, including core principles for any approach to encryption and methods for identifying and weighing risks via “practical threat scenarios.”
