Chairman Floyd Spence
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington D.C. 20515

Dear Chairman Spence,

The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) is writing to urge the Committee on Armed Services to support H.R. 850, the "SAFE" encryption bill. The SAFE Act promotes the widespread availability of strong encryption that we believe is essential to protecting privacy and security on the Internet.

Individuals urgently need strong encryption products to protect their privacy. The Internet is transforming the lives of Americans, making new electronic communications ­ buying things online, registering to vote, creating new communities, sharing ideas with colleagues overseas ­ commonplace, easy, and efficient. But people must be able to trust in the security and privacy of their data if we are to realize the Internet's promise to promote economic growth and reinvigorate democracy. Strong encryption is the fundamental tool needed to build this trust and privacy on the Internet.

Current Administration export control regulations harm the privacy of individuals both abroad and at home. They directly limit the availability of encryption for those communicating overseas, and more broadly weaken the security available in the most commonly used products. Proposals from the Administration to promote "key recovery" or any type of "plaintext access" systems would create a vulnerable new backdoor that damages the security of all encryption systems.

CDT believes the SAFE Act, as introduced, provides encryption export relief that is badly needed to protect individual privacy. While we remain concerned about a new criminal provision in the bill which threatens to stigmatize routine encryption use, on balance SAFE takes a tremendous step forward in promoting security online. We urge the Committee to support the SAFE Act.

Sincerely,

Jerry Berman
Executive Director
Center for Democracy and Technology

cc: Members of the House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services