Whether or not the White House listens is another matter. While it says that it's meeting with the creators of the petition this week, that's news to them -- primary creator (and Electronic Frontier Foundation member) Rainey Reitman notes that no one got in touch. There's also the question of whether or not the administration will understand that a compromise on encryption isn't really possible. Despite repeated warnings that encryption becomes weak the moment you introduce a back door, the government is still convinced that it can have guaranteed surveillance access without hurting security -- it may not change its mind unless it receives a loud and clear objection.

[Image credit: Getty Images]