Providers of the encrypted messenger services Signal, WhatsApp, Threema, Vibe and Co. have published an open letter in which they oppose the British government’s plans. This wants to overturn end-to-end encryption with a new law, the “Online Safety Bill”. In the open letter, the signatories call on the government to “deal with the issue of security” and to “urgently reconsider and (…) revise” the bill. The introduction of the Online Safety Bill is not the right way.
Danger of routine surveillance
With the draft law, which does not provide any special protection for encryption, the British government is opposed to the human right to privacy. As it stands, the bill could jeopardize end-to-end encryption, opening the door to “routine, general, and indiscriminate surveillance of personal messages from friends, family members, employees, executives, journalists, human rights activists, and even politicians themselves.”
According to the authors of the letter, the British regulator Ofcom will be authorized to proactively enforce the search of private messages on end-to-end encrypted communication servers – which makes end-to-end encryption unnecessary. The bill poses a “threat to the privacy, security and security of all UK citizens and the people with whom they communicate”. The law would also encourage other governments to pass similar laws.
One of the strongest defenses against malicious actors and hostile states is end-to-end encryption. Businesses, individuals and governments around the world face constant threats from online fraud, scams and data theft. According to the signatories, it is not possible to monitor messages without undermining end-to-end encryption. Various messenger services, with the exception of Threema, had already announced that they would leave the country when the Online Safety Bill came into force.
According to the signatories, as a global provider, they could not weaken the security of their services to accommodate individual governments. Accordingly, there can be no “British Internet” or a version of end-to-end encryption that applies specifically to England. The authors also cite the United Nations, which has also warned that efforts surrounding the Online Safety Bill “represent a paradigm shift that raises a number of serious issues with potentially dire consequences.” While various services have already announced plans to leave England, Threema wants to stay.
Similar chat control debate
In Germany there is currently a similar debate with the discussion about chat control. Only recently did the federal government agree on an initial statement on the EU Commission’s controversial plans for online surveillance, including chat control without cause. So far, the Federal Government has not spoken out against screening unencrypted communication without any suspicion. The EU Commission also wants encrypted communication to be scanned to combat child abuse.
(mack)
