The government is trying to force companies to design backdoors or security vulnerabilities into their products to aid surveillance, but U.S. Senator Ron Wyden on Thursday introduced a bill that would prevent the intrusion.



Despite backing from the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, the legislation that would put curbs on the bulk collection of phone records by the U.S. National Security Agency, called the USA Freedom Act, could not move towards a final vote on the legislation in the Senate last month.

Wyden said in a statement: “Strong encryption and sound computer security is the best way to keep Americans’ data safe from hackers and foreign threats.”

U.S. FBI Director James B. Comey said: “The issue is whether companies not currently subject to the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act should be required to build lawful intercept capabilities for law enforcement.”

Apple and Google had recently announced that they would start encrypting iOS and Android user data by default, a plan that didn’t go down well with Comey.

Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, has countered that argument by saying that government-driven “technology mandates to weaken data security for the purpose of aiding government investigations would compromise national security, economic security and personal privacy.”

Wyden postulated that building back doors into devices would make companies less willing to develop new strong data security technologies. Backdoors would also further erode consumer trust in these products and services.

Wyden said his legislation builds on a bipartisan effort in the U.S. House of Representatives, which approved an amendment by Representatives Thomas Massie and Zoe Lofgren to prohibit electronic vulnerability mandates in June.