Hillary Clinton wants “Manhattan-like project” to break encryption

Found on Ars Technica on Monday, 21 December 2015
Browse Politics

"I would hope that, given the extraordinary capacities that the tech community has and the legitimate needs and questions from law enforcement, that there could be a Manhattan-like project, something that would bring the government and the tech communities together to see they're not adversaries, they've got to be partners," Clinton continued. "It doesn't do anybody any good if terrorists can move toward encrypted communication that no law enforcement agency can break into before or after. There must be some way. I don't know enough about the technology, Martha, to be able to say what it is, but I have a lot of confidence in our tech experts."

Though Clinton said she has "confidence in our tech experts" to solve this problem, she has continued pushing for weakening encryption despite warnings from Apple, Google, Microsoft, and other tech companies that putting encryption back doors into their products would weaken data security for everyone.

Sometimes it's just better to keep your mouth shut. The simple concept behind encryption is the premise that you cannot break it; otherwise it would not be an encryption. That would be as useful as a lock which can be unlocked by a second (or third) party.