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The UK Is Trying to Stop Facebook's End-to-End Encryption
The UK is planning a new attack on end-to-end encryption, with the Home Office set to spearhead efforts designed to discourage Facebook from further rolling out the technology to its messaging apps.
Home Secretary Priti Patel is planning to deliver a keynote speech at a child protection charity's event focused on exposing the perceived ills of end-to-end encryption and asking for stricter regulation of the technology. At the same time a new report will say that technology companies need to do more to protect children online.
[...] The Home Office's move comes as Facebook plans to roll out end-to-end encryption across all its messaging platforms—including Messenger and Instagram—which has sparked a fierce debate in the UK and elsewhere over the supposed risks the technology poses to children.
[...] An early draft of the report, seen by WIRED, says that increased usage of end-to-end encryption would protect adults' privacy at the expense of children's safety, and that any strategy adopted by technology companies to mitigate the effect of end-to-end encryption will "almost certainly be less effective than the current ability to scan for harmful content."
The report also suggests that the government devise regulation "expressly targeting encryption", in order to prevent technology companies from "engineer[ing] away" their ability to police illegal communications.[...]
[...] Since Facebook's announcement on the extension of end-to-end encryption in 2019, Patel has grown increasingly impatient and vocal about the dangers of the technology—publicly calling on Facebook to "halt plans for end-to-end encryption", and bringing up the subject in meetings with her US counterparts and the Five Eyes intelligence alliance of English-speaking countries.
[...] Jim Killock, executive director at digital rights organization Open Rights Group, says he is "worried that the Home Office will be considering using a secret order (TCN) to force Facebook to limit or circumvent their encryption."
"Facebook would be gagged from saying anything," Killock adds. Although the action would be targeted to Facebook only, he thinks that such a move would set a precedent.
[...] Company executives have previously admitted that the increased rollout of end-to-end encryption will reduce the amount of child abuse reports it makes to industry monitoring groups.
"Its full rollout on our messaging services is a long-term project and we are building strong safety measures into our plans," the spokesperson added.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday April 06 2021, @05:39AM (12 children)
I want to see how these silly rules work on open source messaging.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 3, Funny) by Mojibake Tengu on Tuesday April 06 2021, @05:59AM
The edge of 太玄 cannot be defined, for it is beyond every aspect of design
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 06 2021, @06:00AM (9 children)
That's easy. Simple possession becomes a crime and anyone working on it is a 'terrorist'. The only surprising part is that the US isn't doing it first.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Tuesday April 06 2021, @06:39AM (4 children)
They can't do this because business relies on end-to-end encryption. E.g. for transport of financial information.
FriendFace will ignore them, because it hits their bottom line. If everyone starts using Signal (or whatever) they turn to dust. They can't afford for that to happen, so they keep the encryption.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 06 2021, @07:27AM (1 child)
The British government can and will sling your arse in gaol if you refuse to provide passwords and decryption keys. Look up the RIPA act.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Tuesday April 06 2021, @09:38AM
I didn't know that. Thanks.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 06 2021, @01:17PM
Well, have I got a solution for you!... it's called "suspected money laundring" if you don't expose your financial data! (joking aside, governments are already moving into this with the KYC laws)
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday April 06 2021, @07:27PM
They will have to get a permit
Ultimately, there will be deep packet inspection searching for unauthorized protocols on the network. The best solution then is to find a way to blend in with the noise
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday April 06 2021, @12:17PM (2 children)
Not really. Britain was founded on "See this sword that I just killed a bunch of your friends and neighbors with? Good, now on your knees." while one of our founders liked to say "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
There's still enough of that sentiment lingering in both nations to make at least some bit of difference.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 06 2021, @03:38PM (1 child)
More recently a US President tried to shut down a video service because its users hurt his feelz, that same president also wanted to take guns away and worry about due process later. I dunno where you're getting 'lingering founding fathers' from but it's not reality.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 06 2021, @06:38PM
The myth of the nation...
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday April 07 2021, @09:57AM
Yup, I know, it's so stupid it's true!
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 06 2021, @12:28PM
Rock-solid cable modem internet connection for years...
Test DoT & Wireguard on gateway dev box (lower spec than current gateway machine - half the memory and cores, and slower CPU) , no issues...
Switch on DoT, fire up wireguard for remote phone/laptop access on real gateway...
Rock-solid connection starts 'acting up'...
<tinfoil-hat time>
Funny that... cf. https://archive.is/BeedK [archive.is]
</tinfoik-hat time>
Guess which benighted part of the planet I'm in?