Commerce / Tech / State Encrypt (Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to Maryland's Public Information Act ("PIA"), 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

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

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 30 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Joseph Uchill