Fortune
Trump Election Ignites Fears Over U.S. Encryption, Surveillance Policy
by Reuters, November 9, 2016

Donald Trump’s surprise election victory has alarmed technology companies and civil libertarians fearful that a self-described ‘law and order’ president will attempt to expand surveillance programs and rejoin a long-running battle over government access to encrypted information.

Trump’s campaign featured numerous broadsides against the tech sector, including calls for closing off parts of the Internet to limit militant Islamist propaganda and urging a boycott of Apple products over the company’s refusal to help the FBI unlock an iPhone associated with last year’s San Bernardino, Calif. shootings.

Trump has also threatened antitrust action against Amazon.com and demanded that tech companies such as Apple build their products in the United States.

Republican Senator Richard Burr, the chairman of the Senate intelligence committee...Burr spearheaded a failed effort last year to pass legislation requiring that companies build ‘back doors’ into their products that would allow government agents to bypass encryption and other forms of data protection...Burr will likely reintroduce his encryption legislation next year, this time with White House support, according to a technology company staffer who works on policy issues and spoke on condition his company not be named.

“I imagine (Trump) is going to be a guy who is probably going to mandate back doors,” said Hank Thomas, chief operating officer at Strategic Cyber Ventures and a veteran of the National Security Agency. “I don’t think he’s ultimately going to be a friend to privacy, and the fearful side of me says he will get intelligence agencies more involved in domestic law enforcement.”