Commerce / Tech / State Encrypt (Massachusetts Technology Collaborative)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c.66, §10, I hereby request the following records:

The Washington Post reports "But over the summer, momentum has grown among officials in the commerce, diplomatic, trade and technology agencies for a statement from the president 'strongly disavowing' a legislative mandate and supporting widespread encryption, according to senior officials and documents obtained by The Washington Post." (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/tech-trade-agencies-push-to-disavow-law-requiring-decryption-of-phones/2015/09/16/1fca5f72-5adf-11e5-b38e-06883aacba64_story.html?postshare=9031442410909976)

I am requesting communications including emails and memoranda and presentations since March of 2015 discussing the debate over encryption backdoors.

A good set of search terms to find these documents would be anything that mixes a term from "list A" below with a term from "list B:"

A: encryption, crypto, encrypt, cryptography, pgp, gpg, AES256
B: Apple, Google, default, backdoor, back door, frontdoor, front door, comey, NSA, FBI, law enforcement, Comey, Clapper, Johnson, intelligence, warrant

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 calendar days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Joseph Uchill

Hi there,

No response has been received regarding this public records request since we received a letter from Michael Baldino on October 1, 2015. Could you please confirm that it is still being processed?

Thank you,
Beryl, MuckRock