April 21, 2016–The House encryption working group formed earlier this year (TRDaily, March 21) to examine legal and policy issues surrounding encryption technologies today laid out a “road map” for its activities for the rest of this year and said it hopes to wrap up its work by January 2017.   Its final work product, the group said today, will take the form of recommendations to the House.

Between now and then, the working group’s members and staff will hold meetings with “federal, state, and local government entities, former government officials, private industry and trade associations, civil society organizations, consultants and legal experts, academia, and cryptographers,” and will participate in “site visits” to hold meetings and receive technical briefings, it said. The working group also said it is looking for input from outside groups in the form of white papers, testimony or scholarly articles that should be submitted to EncryptionWG@mail.house.gov.

Members of the working group are Reps. Bill Johnson (R., Ohio), Adam Kinzinger (R., Ill.), Yvette Clark (D., N.Y.), Joe Kennedy III (D., Mass.), Jim Sensenbrenner (R., Wisc.), Darrell Issa (D., Calif.), Zoe Lofgren (D., Calif.), and Suzan DelBene (D., Wash.).  Servicing as ex officio members are House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.); the committee’s ranking member, John Conyers Jr. (D., Mich.); House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R., Mich.); and committee ranking member Frank Pallone Jr. (D., N.J.).  – John Curran, john.curran@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily