John,

Last week, news leaked that members of Congress are writing a bill that will kill encryption once and for all. That’s bad. Really bad. Not only does encryption keep us safe from hacking, privacy breaches, and government abuse, but it also protects important infrastructure like communications systems, power grids, and nuclear plants.¹

Sign the petition to tell Congress: “Don’t kill online encryption! Reject the dangerous EARN IT Act.”

Members of Congress want us to believe that the Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act of 2019 — or EARN IT Act, for short — will protect children from online exploitation. But the truth is that the EARN IT Act grants the Attorney General broad new powers to force tech companies to do whatever he wants.²

Since the 1990s, William Barr has been implementing massive, illegal government surveillance programs.³ Now he’s upping the stakes, demanding that tech companies install “digital backdoors” into their products so that the government can spy on all our personal communications.⁴ But digital backdoors don’t just give law enforcement agents access to our emails and text messages; malicious hackers can also use these backdoors to hijack our private data, access our accounts, and cause chaos to important digital infrastructure.⁵

It’s happened in the past.⁶ More than once.⁷ And if Barr gets his way, it’s going to happen again.

Security professionals — including former leaders of America’s top intelligence agencies — agree that stronger encryption makes us all safer.⁸ But time and time again, Barr has ignored his critics, preferring to spread fear and misinformation in an attempt to gain support for his dangerous ideas. It seems to be working; otherwise, members of Congress would never have penned the EARN IT Act.

Tell your lawmakers not to be tricked by this wolf in sheep’s clothing. Sign our petition now to demand that Congress reject the EARN IT Act and protect online encryption.

Regards,

Dayton at Fight for the Future

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1. Wired

https://www.wired.com/2014/11/countdown-to-zero-day-stuxnet/

2. EFF

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/01/congress-must-stop-graham-blumenthal-anti-security-bill

3. Senator Ron Wyden

https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-ag-barr-and-trump-want-to-open-government-backdoors-into-americans-personal-devices-video-available-here

4. US Department of Justice

https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-general-william-p-barr-delivers-keynote-address-international-conference-cyber