More recently, the FBI and Department of Justice under Attorney General William Barr have taken aim at Facebook, which revealed plans to integrate its three messaging services and make them all end-to-end encrypted. Law enforcement concerns with encryption reached the public consciousness in 2015, when Apple clashed with the Federal Bureau of Investigation by refusing to help unlock a shooter's iPhone in an attack in San Bernardino, California. While the bill does not call for an end to encryption technology outright, tech firms such as Apple have argued there is no way for "lawful access" to occur that would not break the security provided by encryption for all users. The government would also be required to compensate the firms for "reasonable costs" taken on while complying with the directive, according to a press release. The Attorney General cannot direct companies to take specific technical steps and the firms could appeal the directives in federal court. The bill would also empower the Attorney General to direct service providers and device manufacturers to report their ability to comply with the warrant and how long it would take to do so. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., would require tech companies to assist law enforcement to access their encrypted devices and services when officials obtain a court-issued warrant based on probable cause that a crime has occurred. The Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act, introduced by Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sens. But industry leaders have warned that any system requiring a "backdoor" to encryption would undermine the privacy protections altogether. Law enforcement officials have insisted that they must have some way to access encrypted platforms and devices when investigating crimes.
Encrypted services only let the sender and recipient see messages.