American political journalism outlet Politico is reporting that high-ranking members of the U.S. national security community held a meeting focused on whether to seek legislation barring encryption that law enforcement can’t break―a strategy the government designates "going dark," according to the political blog.

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

The council of agency deputy chiefs apparently has not yet decided whether to ask Congress for the restrictive measure or to maintain a general stance of continued research on the issue. Technology makers including Google, Apple, Facebook and others have so far bristled at requests to weaken privacy features.

Tech and legal savvy commentators on LinkedIn seemed equally horrified at the suggestion. As one consultant in Mountain View, California put it:

> Even if the US government could outlaw end-to-end encryption ― which would be idiotic and probably unconstitutional ― it can't prevent developers from implementing it using simple textbook algorithms and distributing the software. The genie is out of the bottle.

What's your take on this issue―Is the U.S. government likely to decide on a ban on strong encryption eventually? If so, is such ban even technically feasible?

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Likely. The U.S. will become an increasingly restrictive internet surveillance state. (33.33%) 5 / 15 Likely. Congress will pass this law, but it will be struck down in whole or in part by the courts. (26.67%) 4 / 15 Not likely. The administration will ask for it, but Congress will not pass such a law (20.0%) 3 / 15 Likely. Congress will pass this law, it will be legally upheld but also easily circumvented in practice. (13.33%) 2 / 15 Other (please elaborate) (6.67%) 1 / 15