Apple and the FBI will testify about encryption in another congressional hearing next week

The encryption fight is heading for another debate in front of a congressional committee. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s oversight panel will host a hearing next Tuesday, “Deciphering the Debate Over Encryption: Industry and Law Enforcement Perspectives,” that will feature testimonies from both sides of the encryption argument — including representatives from Apple and the FBI.

The first panel will involve law enforcement, including Amy Hess, executive assistant director for science and technology at the FBI, and Thomas Galati, chief of the New York Police Department’s Intelligence Bureau. The day’s second panel includes Apple’s General Counsel Bruce Sewell, president of RSA Security Amit Yoran, and Matthew Blaze, an associate computer and information science professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

The hearing follows the introduction of a controversial bill that would compel companies to assist law enforcement in decrypting private communications. It also follows a similar March hearing in front of the House Judiciary Committee — many arguments from which will likely be repeated.