The encrypted-messaging app Signal has said it would stop providing services in the UK if a new law undermined encryption.
According to the BBC, Signal’s President Meredith Whittaker has stated that if the Online Safety Bill forces them to compromise the privacy of their messaging system, they would “absolutely, 100% walk” away from it. The government has denied that its proposal is a ban on end-to-end encryption. The bill, introduced by Boris Johnson, is currently being considered by Parliament.
Critics have expressed concern that the new law could require companies to scan messages on encrypted apps for child sexual abuse material or terrorism content under the supervision of Ofcom, which has worried firms that enable private, secure communication. Element, a UK company with clients such as the Ministry of Defence, stated that this plan could cost them customers. In the past, WhatsApp has informed the BBC that they would not compromise their security for any government.
Magical Thinking
According to the government and child protection charities, encryption obstructs efforts to combat online child abuse, which they claim is on the rise.
The Home Office stated, “It is important that technology companies make every effort to ensure that their platforms do not become a breeding ground for paedophiles.” It went on to say that the Online Safety Bill is not a ban on end-to-end encryption, but rather a call for technological changes that do not compromise public safety, particularly the safety of children online.
“We can and must have both privacy and child safety,” it said.
However, Signal President Meredith Whittaker argues that it is “magical thinking” to believe that we can have privacy “only for the good guys”.
She believes that encryption either protects everyone or it fails for everyone. The Online Safety Bill, she claims, embodies this type of magical thinking. Signal, a non-profit organization based in California, has been downloaded over 100 million times on the Google Store.
The app uses end-to-end encryption, which scrambles messages so that not even the service operator can read them.
Journalists, activists, and politicians are among the app’s users.
WhatsApp, Apple’s iMessage system, and Facebook and Telegram, are other examples of platforms that use end-to-end encryption.
Apple had proposed a client-side scanning system, which would have scanned messages for child abuse images before encrypting them, but dropped the idea due to negative feedback.
Critics argue that this approach effectively undermines the point of encryption.
Whittaker says that it would turn everyone’s phone into a “mass surveillance device that phones home to tech corporations and governments and private entities.”
Privacy Promises
According to Ms Whittaker, creating “back doors” to allow for message scanning would be exploited by “malicious state actors” and could also provide criminals with a way to access such systems. She stated that if the Online Safety Bill compelled them to weaken their privacy standards, they would rather discontinue their service in the UK than undermine people’s trust in them to provide a truly private communication method, as they have never compromised on their privacy commitments.
Matthew Hodgson, CEO of Element, a UK-based secure communications firm, explained that the mere prospect of mandated scanning would cause him to lose clients. He argued that consumers would assume that any secure communication product developed in the UK would necessarily contain back doors to enable illegal content scanning. This could also result in a strange situation where a government bill undermines the security assurances given to customers at the Ministry of Defense and other sensitive government areas. Additionally, he said that his company might have to stop providing some services.
Child Safety
Ms Whittaker acknowledged the importance of protecting children, stating that the stories of child abuse are heart-wrenching. However, when questioned about the claim that encryption safeguards abusers, she countered that the majority of abuse occurs within families and communities. As such, the efforts to combat this issue should primarily concentrate on improving the provision of child protection services. She cited a paper by Professor Ross Anderson that emphasizes the need for funding such services and warns against relying on simplistic technological solutions to solve multifaceted social issues.
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Author: Chris Vallance