Sec. 2. Findings

242 words·~1 min read·/bill/113/s/2500/is/section-2

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

Congress makes the following findings: The United States is the world leader in technology, encryption, and computer security. The United States Government, through the expert work of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (referred to in this section as NIST ) and the Information Assurance Directorate of the National Security Agency, plays a vital role in developing the tools that keep global electronic communications secure. The United States Government should actively promote privacy and computer security.

Allegations that entities within the United States Government seek to undermine the security of encryption standards or commercial products weaken privacy and erode trust in the United States Government and in products from the United States. The actions described in paragraph

(3)may take a serious toll on the United States economy. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation has predicted that United States companies may lose 10 percent of the cloud computing market to overseas competitors due to surveillance and security concerns, a loss that could amount to not less than $35,000,000,000 in lost sales by 2016. The cryptographic expertise of NIST is recognized around the world, but widespread adoption of the robust encryption standards that NIST develops depends on trust. To promote privacy protection and restore trust in the encryption standards of the United States and hardware and software from the United States, the United States Government should be prohibited from undermining the security of the United States technologies on which global commerce relies.