The Conservative party is reportedly using recent terror attacks as leverage to ask technology companies to hand over their encrypted data.
A recent report (via) claims the Tories will push for new legislation after the general election, assuming they win, of course.
The government is supposedly planning on setting new rules which would allow for what’s called Technical Capability Notices.
A government minister is said to have told The Sun: “The level of threat clearly proves there is no more time to waste now… The social media companies have been laughing in our faces for too long.”
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These will potentially allow police and MI5 to override the protection promised by technology behemoths such as Apple and Facebook.
Firms such as this encrypt user data to protect against hacking attempts, but such encryption makes it difficult, if not impossible, for government agencies and authorities to gain access to that data as part of investigations.
The argument against opening a so-called “back door” to encryption has always been that it could easily be exploited by hackers.
Apple refused to unlock the shooter’s iPhone, with the FBI eventually claiming it found a third party that was able to unlock the phone that was used to help plan and conduct the attack.
The new report claims that if the Tories suceed in their legislative ambtitions, each order to open the back door to encryption will have to have senior judge approval and be signed off by the home secretary.
On top of that, only companies with a user base of more than 10,000 will be targeted for back door access.
Do you think the UK government should have a back door to encrypted networks? Let us know in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
