In a new attempt to achieve crypto surveillance, the United States government is seeking to impose the Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act that will allow it to create a backdoor in encryption systems. This is in order to have strict monitoring and control over encrypted digital activities, including cryptocurrencies.
El project The bill introduced by the United States Senate proposes the creation of a new law that will allow access to encrypted data from cryptographic companies and services that operate with encryption systems, including projects cryptocurrencies, This is so that government agencies such as the FBI can have control and monitor the operations that take place within these spaces.
The idea of implementing a law to control encrypted information transactions and transfers is not new. For several years, the United States government and legislators have been introducing projects that seek to achieve this goal. One example is the proposal presented in April 2016 by senators who proposed legislation to force technology companies to collaborate with government authorities. This bill focused on technology companies having to reveal encrypted information during investigations by authorities. However, at that time, the White House stated that it would not support the approval of this proposal.
Now, in a new attempt, the senators Lindsey Graham, Tom Cotton y Marsha blackburn They are proposing a new law that will allow them to legally access encrypted data from crypto companies and services.
It may interest you: Coinbase and the FED team up to monitor cryptocurrency users
Law on Legal Access to Encrypted Data
According to the US senators, encryption allows terrorists and criminals to hide illegal actions from the eyes of the world. Given this, the creators of the law consider it vital that the authorities can access this information and prevent the increase in illegal activity that occurs in the country. In this regard, Senator Tom Cotton pointed out that:
«Tech companies' growing reliance on encryption has turned their platforms into a new playground for lawless criminal activity.»
This is also referring to the fact that crypto platforms and cryptocurrencies promote illegal activities, helping criminals hide their funds. On this point, Cotton pointed out that the new bill will allow law enforcement authorities to access encrypted data and information in order to put an end to the growing crime on the Internet.
According to the senators, the bill will allow the Attorney General's Office to issue directives to crypto companies and services to comply with court orders, to the point that the Attorney General's Office can impose defined deadlines to comply with said directives. For their part, the senators also point out that the government will be responsible for training and preparing companies and services to comply with the directives, as well as assuming the expenses related to compliance with the orders that are imposed.
The bill seeks to implement a backdoor in encryption systems
For the proposal of Law on Legal Access to Encrypted Data To allow access to encrypted information handled by cryptographic companies and services, it is necessary to establish a back door in the systems of encryption. According to the Director of Surveillance and Cybersecurity at Stanford's Center for Internet and Society, Riana Pfefferkorn, the new bill is the long-feared backdoor attack coming to cryptographic systems.
A backdoor in encryption systems is a tactic that seeks to create a vulnerability known to developers so that it can be exploited deliberately. The objective of this is to break the encryption systems, in order to access the information and data that companies contain. It is a vulnerability that would allow governments to evade security measures and encryption in the different technological platforms and protocols that exist.
So, because of the ability of this proposed law to allow authorities to demand access to encrypted data from different companies, services and cryptographic protocols, many experts agree with Pfefferkorn's opinion that this is a “backdoor in encryption systems”In this sense, the lawyer of Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Andrew Crocker, stressed that this law violates the right to security and privacy of users, and also allows the government to support its need for surveillance whenever it deems appropriate.
Likewise, the Policy Analyst of the Open Technology Institute of New America, Andi Thompson, also shares the opinion of experts, highlighting that the new bill is yet another attack on encryption and security that hides its true objective. According to Thompson, the Law on Legal Access to Encrypted Data has other intentions that have not yet been revealed.
Potential vulnerabilities that the bill may cause
On the other hand, cybersecurity experts say that if this bill is implemented and comes into force, the security of ordinary users will be affected. For many, the Law on Legal Access to Encrypted Data will require cryptographic companies, businesses and services to implement new, much weaker encryption systems to comply with the requirements of the regulations, something that will put the security of ordinary users in general at risk.
Experts also point out that criminals and terrorists who conceal their operations through these platforms and services can simply migrate their funds to other services that are not under surveillance at a given time.
Other proposals from the US government to implement cryptocurrency surveillance
For its part, with the aim of establishing measures that allow the United States government authorities to efficiently control the supervision of cryptocurrencies, several agencies requested millions of dollars in funds to design and implement new surveillance tools. In this regard, the Internal Revenue Service has requested more than $40 million to hire investigators to expand its investigations into illegal activities related to cryptocurrencies.
In the same way, the United States Department of the Treasury and Financial Crimes Office They also requested resources to hire investigative agents to contribute to their internal programs for investigating crimes related to cryptocurrencies. Of course, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration The DEA was not left out of these requests; it made a request for resources in the order of 3 million dollars to boost its program of analysis and investigation of cryptographic transactions, as well as the hiring of intelligence experts to help discern cases of money laundering with cryptocurrencies.
However, at this point it is important to note that the Office of Inspector General of the United States Department of Justice he made a audit recent in which he stated that the DEA performed insufficient management in the handling of cryptographic funds related to the cases of Python Project and Operation Blue Agave, noting that the agency did not issue a report on the millions of dollars in funds confiscated during intelligence operations carried out in these cases.
Continue reading: US Supreme Court limits the amount of fines the SEC can impose on crypto companies
