Florida project bill, which would require social media companies to provide encryption back sides for police officials to access using accounts, has cleared a key legislative obstacle, and will now advance to the state’s senate floor for a vote.
Florida lawmakers unanimously approved to push the bill by committee, By Florida policy.
The “Social Media -use of minors” (SB 868) Bill, if delivered into law, would require “social media platforms to provide a mechanism to decipher end-to-end encryption when a bill acquires a quote.” The bill would also require that social media companies allow parents or guardians access to a child’s account, and would ban children’s accounts from using functions that allow the use of disappearing messaging, the bill reads.
Critics, including the TE Companiesnological Companies and Industrial Organizations that oppose the bill, have long argued that weakening encryption will make people less secure compromising the security of their private messages and could result in data breaks.
In Blog post last weekThe Electronic Foundation on Digital Rights Group has criticized the bill, arguing that encryption is the “best tool we need to protect our communications online”, and that passing the law is likely to result in companies removing encryption for minors and make those users less secure.
“The idea that Florida can ‘protect’ minors, making them less safe is dangerous and dumb,” wrote the EFF.
The Florida bill is based on state law passed last year restricting social resources for people under the age of 16. The law remains largely while staying while it remains under scrutiny in the courts In the midst of questions about the constitutionality of the law.
Technical companies, such as Apple, Google and Facebook owner Meta, are always more End-to-end encryption The data from their users so that their private content is only accessible to the user, not even the companies themselves. This also helps to protect the private messages from Hackers users or malicious companies. By encrypting using data, the TE Companiesnological Companies say they cannot also provide information about laws that they themselves cannot access.
It is unclear whether the proposed Florida bill, as written, would require that social media companies meet only a quote, which are usually given by police agencies and without judicial overview.
Subpoenas are usually not signed by a judge, but can still be used by laws to force limited amounts of account information, such as names, email addresses or phone numbers, technology companies about their users. Companies will often be required to see a court-authorized search mandate, which requires police to present a court with a higher degree of evidence of suspected crime, before handing over the private messages from a user.
A corresponding bill Going through the Florida House (HB 743) has a final committee vote to empty before it proceeds to the chamber floor for a vote, according to Florida policy.
