richardburrNorth Carolina Senator Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is working on legislation that would penalize companies that don't comply with court orders to unlock encrypted devices, according to The Wall Street Journal. The move comes a day after Apple announced that it would oppose an order to unlock the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone 5c.

The bill could reportedly be written in way that modifies the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which compelled communications companies to build their systems in a way that would allow them to comply with court orders.

Mr. Burr hasn’t finalized plans for how legislation would be designed, and several people familiar with the process said there hasn’t been an agreement among any other lawmakers to pursue criminal penalties. It’s also unclear whether Mr. Burr could marshal bipartisan support on such an issue during an election year that has divided Washington in recent months.

For the past several months, Burr has been pressuring technology companies to work closely with law enforcement to prevent encrypted devices and services from being used to plan and execute crimes, going as far as telling some that they needed to consider changing their business model. He's also claimed that district attorneys have complained to him about encryption as they are "beginning to get to a situation where they can't prosecute cases."

Apple CEO Tim Cook has continually maintained that unlocking any device, or creating any type of backdoor, would weaken encryption across the board and allow both bad guys and good guys to access users' personal data.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Top Rated Comments

JimmyHook Avatar
128 months ago
Well, when the contents of his family's iPhones are dumped on the internet he would think twice about his stance. Once the door is open, hackers would be able to target anyone. Nobody can deny that with a straight face
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Nunyabinez Avatar
128 months ago
OMG, how did anyone get convicted before there were phones to scrape data from? If the difference between convicting someone and not convicting them requires data from their phone, then it sounds to me like a pretty weak case that has the high potential for being wrong. Unless criminals are taking selfies of their crimes in progress.

What happened to fingerprints and witnesses and all the other stuff? Sounds like to me that we have a bunch of lazy prosecutors who want Apple to do their job for them.

This is all a smoke screen for the fact that they want to spy on the populous and they're using "because crime" to do it.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PinkyMacGodess Avatar
128 months ago
Stupid says what?

He's 'bought and paid for'. Must be a spokesperson for military industrial complex corporations...

Nice huh...

"Mr. Burr hasn't finalized plans for how legislation would be designed"

So the 'designs' weren't pushed under his door in a plain brown envelope, with a wad of cash, yet?
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lancetx Avatar
128 months ago
Regardless of their party (and there are plenty on both sides), those that back this legislation will find themselves squarely on the wrong side of history.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThunderSkunk Avatar
128 months ago
It's nice to see some idealism has still survived, blaming one or the other party, but both the political parties that have wrangled the stranglehold on power in this country have, at every opportunity since their creation, expressed and honed their love for total power & wealth schemes, broad unconstitutional trampling of civil liberties, aggression and assaults on the public, unlimited access and control over their opponents and citizens lives, and their penchant for authoritarianism (but don't call it that) all blamed on bogeyman of the hour.

You can imagine that we deserve it, due to the army of inept "people persons!" we vote for, but the parties and their monied interests and electoral royalty determine who you will vote for, long before the people of the country get to vote. There is no alternative available on offer. No marketplace of ideas. There is a script, and the parties ensure the nation sticks to it. Calling the U.S. in any way a representative democracy at this point is so unrealistic it's absurd. The U.S. is a nation of two parties, each of which wishes it were a one party state, as long as they're the party, and both parties behave like it.

Voting for a handful of kings once every 4 years who have no competency in the matters they're tasked with voting on (the 1/3 of the time they show up to their jobs to vote at all) doesn't "represent" anyone, but the (in both parties) most conservative party brass and the contributor who coughed up the $ to write & promote the bill. Not the interest of the people, or the nation. Legalizing this corruption doesn't make it not corrupt.

The U.S. has no system for rational constructive decision-making in its leadership, and a few hundred million preventing there from being one created.

Using 9/11 and 'tersts as an excuse to enact emergency powers to create the Patriot Act crushing the constitution, and then blaming Democrats when you notice your 4th amendment rights have been shredded, is just as absurd as blaming Republicans for creating the patriot act when the Obama admin then grabbed it from Bush, and instead of righting the wrong, turned around and used it to its maximum potential. We're far, faaar beyond simple, single-sided blame solving any of these problems at this point.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FrankieTDouglas Avatar
128 months ago
No mention that Burr is an R.
R = reverse
The battle against encryption is bipartisan. If you like finding different letters of the alphabet, look up the recent New York or California proposals and who pushed those.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Three Breakthrough Features

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red

Apple Black Friday Deals Available Now on AirPods, iPads, Accessories, and More

Friday November 21, 2025 8:48 am PST by
We're only a few days away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
General Apps Messages Redux

Singapore Orders Changes to iMessage by December

Tuesday November 25, 2025 6:39 am PST by
Singapore has ordered Apple to block or filter messages on iMessage that impersonate government agencies, requiring the company to implement new anti-spoofing protections by December as part of efforts to curb rising online scams, the Straits Times reports. Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that it had issued an Implementation Directive to Apple under the Online Criminal Harms...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket is Now Completely Sold Out Worldwide

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:16 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released. iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 18 Pro Looks Like a Huge Upgrade

Friday November 21, 2025 9:10 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through all of the new features and improvements expected to come to next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple's next-generation iPhones are less than ten months away and we already have a good idea about what to expect based on corroborated leaks, rumors,...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These New Features to Your iPhone

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:50 am PST by
iOS 26.2 is currently in beta testing. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics for Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date. Keep reading...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 27 Will Reportedly Have Two Key Upgrades

Sunday November 23, 2025 8:48 am PST by
iOS 27 will reportedly have two major elements: quality improvements and new AI features. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is focused on improving "quality and underlying performance" over adding new features. Gurman said there is one exception to this rule, though, as he expects...
apple news banner

Apple News Loses CNN

Monday November 24, 2025 7:56 am PST by
American multinational news company CNN has abruptly pulled its content from Apple News, Semafor reports. CNN quietly removed its stories from Apple News over the weekend and there is no longer a feed from the network to subscribe to in the app. This effectively ends its distribution agreement with Apple while the two sides negotiate new terms. Discussions are apparently ongoing and CNN's...