http://it.slashdot.org/story/16/01/13/1751229/ny-bill-would-force-decryption-of-smartphones-on-demand
On the Wire reports: "A bill that is making its way through the New
York state assembly would
require
that smartphone manufacturers build mechanisms into the devices
that would allow the companies to decrypt or unlock them on
demand from law enforcement. The New York bill is the latest entry
in a long-running debate between privacy advocates and security
experts on one side and law enforcement agencies and many
politicians on the other. The revelations of the last few years
about widespread government surveillance, especially that involving
cell phones and email systems, has spurred device manufacturers to
increase the use of encryption. New Apple iPhones now are encrypted
by default, as are some Android devices. Apple, Google, and the
other major manufacturers have said that user privacy and security
is their main concern. The bill that is now in committee in the New
York State Assembly makes no equivocation about what it is designed
to do. 'Any smartphone that is manufactured on or after January
First, Two Thousand Sixteen, and sold or leased in New York, shall
be capable of being decrypted and unlocked by its manufacturer or
its operating system provider,' the bill says."