Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act

United StatesS.4051 / H.R.7891 (116th)Updated January 3, 2021

Stoppedno longer moving
Bad for your rightsArchived

Introduced once in 2020 (116th Congress); not seen since

A recurring proposal to force companies to build law-enforcement access into encrypted devices and messages. Last introduced in 2020.

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The bill

Read the full billOfficial bill record

Key facts

Where
United States
Bill number
S.4051 / H.R.7891 (116th)
Status
Archived
Introduced
June 23, 2020
Threat
High
Last update
January 3, 2021

Topics

Encryption bills

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What it does

The Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act would order device makers, operating systems, and providers to be able to decrypt data for police when handed a warrant. It mandates a built-in way past encryption, which security experts say cannot be kept to the good guys.

What’s at stake

A required way in is a backdoor by another name. Once it exists, it is a target for hackers and hostile governments, and it weakens security for everyone, not just suspects.

Our take

The bluntest of the encryption bills: where EARN IT pressures companies to drop encryption, this one just ordered a way in. It was introduced once in 2020 and has not returned in the years since, so it sits here as the reference for what a hard decryption mandate looks like, not as a live threat.

Previous versions

116th Congress (2020) S.4051 / H.R.7891

Died in committee