Ash Carter: ‘I Am Trying to Build Bridges Between Us and Tech Companies’

‘I don’t expect them to do things to help us that compromise their business position or the international competitive position’

ROSE: “The Pentagon is also trying to tap Silicon Valley’s expertise. In our interview with Defense Secretary Ash Carter, we discussed the encryption debate. He described the military’s growing outreach to technology companies. The conversation took place before Apple’s response.”
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ROSE: “So if Apple says it’s encrypted, we can’t help you. What do you say?”
CARTER: “Well, I’m not talking about to Apple now. Within our own intelligence system [there are] other ways of getting the same intelligence. With respect to companies, we have to — we — there’s a situation, Charlie — and you and I have talked about this before — where I am trying to build bridges between us and tech companies. Now, I don’t expect them to do things to help us that compromise their business position or their international competitive position. But I do want to have enough of a bridge to the tech sector that we can work, where possible, toward common solutions to common problems.”

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