State Department Announces New Stance on Encryption and Surveillance

Today, a
representative from the State Department announced a change in the
federal government’s stance on surveillance and encryption at
RightsCon, a human rights conference in San Francisco.

Deputy Assistant Secretary Scott Busby acknowledged “support for
encryption protocols,” which are “critical for an Internet that
that is truly open to all.” According to Busby, the U.S. government
will gather and use data based on six principles: “rule of law,
legitimate purpose, non-arbitrariness, competent authority,
oversight, and transparency and democratic accountability.”

When questioned on its support, Busby explained that the
principles were approved government-wide, including Office of the
Director of National Intelligence, which is headed by James
Clapper. Clapper has been
criticized for giving deceptive testimony before congress about
the National Security Agency’s (NSA) practices.

His statements were not without immediate criticism. A
legislator from Hong Kong responded that the U.S. government
actively “undermin[es] exactly the kind of things [Busby] talked
about,” and that his government was “attacked and criticized” by
the U.S. after NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden fled to Hong
Kong.

Nevertheless, a representative from the human rights
organization Access, which hosts RightsCon, explained at a press
conference that the statement from the government is significant,
because it is not only “a strong statement on support for
cybersecurity and encryption,” but an affirmation of “human rights
law which historically they’ve been loath to acknowledge,” and “the
first time they recognize international norms and laws as they
apply when conducting surveillance.”

As Jon Brodkin of ArsTechnica
highlighted last year, the National Security Agency has
previously worked to actively undermine encryption.

Busby’s statement is essentially an affirmation of a speech and
policy directive made by President Barack Obama in January.
Reason’s J.D. Tuccille at the time
described Obama’s approach as a “lukewarm embrace… of the
very modest reforms to NSA snooping practices recommended by his
hand-picked Review Group on Intelligence and Communication
Technologies.”