Originally Posted by
studentff
No such law in the USA.
Plenty of good quality modern encryption software is open source and peer reviewed by dozens if not hundreds of computer scientists and mathematicians. A simple "back door" is extremely unlikely in such software. If one of the underlying algorithms has been hacked, then the government either lucked out, managed to hire the smartest guy among the lot of cryptographers, or engaged in a massive conspiracy to convince a bunch of corporate, non-government, often non-US institutions to agree on a hobbled encryption standard.
Forced into choosing one or the other, I'd put my money on good-quality modern crypto (with a good key) over the government's ability to get at it with anything other than brute force or a rubber hose.
You are arguing two different points 1) whether there is a law...and 2) whether there is 3rd party SW
I can tell you that the US gov'nt requires the key to any encryption program for obvious reasons....this part I know
I am not disputing that there are plenty of rouge 3rd party cryptographers and algorithm developers of hashing and crypto SW either but they are 2 separate issues.
I do say that if CBP got a hold of an encrypted HD and they wanted to know what was on it they would seize it until you "un" encrypted it. As far as 'breaking' the encryption they wouldn't have to because your butt would be in a holding cell until you did what they ask.