British prime minister targets encrypted messaging after Paris attacks

[steven36]

Asking whether terrorists should be given safe spaces to talk, David Cameron pledges to tighten laws that could challenge WhatsApp and other messaging apps.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to tighten laws surrounding the encryption of electronic communication, potentially targeting services such as WhatsApp, Snapchat or Apple Messages. He asked Monday whether we should "allow safe spaces for (terrorists) to talk to each other."

Cameron was discussing security measures in the wake of events in Paris last week, where gunmen attacked the office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and killed 12 people. In the interest of disrupting communications between terrorists, Cameron pledged that if re-elected in this year's general election, he intends to ban encryption that cannot be read by security services.

"In our country," asked Cameron, speaking in Paris, "do we want to allow a means of communication between people which even in extremis, with a signed warrant from the home secretary personally, we cannot read?"

By banning encrypted communication, Cameron's proposed policies could collide with a growing trend among Silicon Valley companies to secure use''s devices and services. Google, Yahoo, Facebook and others have pledged to strengthen the data users store with them by using encryption, a method that jumbles the data so that it's effectively unreadable to anyone other than the intended recipients. Companies like Apple and Google have even begun employing encryption technologies on their respective smartphones and tablets. These efforts have angered law enforcement agencies, particularly in the US.

As with most politicians' promises, Cameron's proposal is long on rhetoric and short on detail on how this would be enforced. His comments recall the Communications Data Bill that was vetoed in 2013 by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg due to concerns over civil liberties and the cost of implementation. Nicknamed the "snoopers' charter", the bill would have allowed for authorities to intercept emails, website visits and social media posts

Cameron and other politicians previously attacked chat apps in the aftermath of the London Riots of 2011. The Prime Minister told parliament that he wanted to "give the police the technology to trace people on Twitter or BBM, or close it down."

In today's speech, Cameron did at least acknowledge that care must be taken with surveillance. Comparing access to communications data (which means the details of who is messaging whom and when) and access to the message itself, he acknowledged that snooping on what was actually said is more contentious, emphasising that this "very intrusive power" must only be used with strict safeguards.

At the time of writing, WhatsApp, Snapchat and Apple had not responded to request for comment.

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[Arachnoid]

The blunderbuss technique is unwanted and unneeded, the services have more than enough access to data if they need it so its a typical knee jerk reaction from someone who misunderstands what he already has.He would be better off investing in more personnel and specialist equipment to actually support the duties they have at present

[steven36]

I look at it like this its just like GUN laws in the UK . Just because they have GUN laws does not mean they dont have guns it just means only bad guys have them. They have CCTV watching everything they do even in remote parts of UK . They were like the 1st country to impose blocking of websites . At the rate there headed China will be more free than the UK soon. I would expect no less from a nation that if your not rich and powerful your considered a peasant . They use to hang or put you in front the firing squad if you was for freedom and justice . They outlaw encrypted chat only bad guys will have it still . :P

[dbaker]

Another load of crap from cameron, a primeminister NOBODY has any respect for of a country most have no respect for. Its time Britain started looking after its own people and stopped with the £12 billion we give away in oversea's aid due to some feeling guilty about the old empire we once were!!

I live in a good sized town in Essex and we dont see any police for days at a time, our police station is part time.As was said in the first comment, Uk would be better investing in personal to uphold the laws we already have. This is still a nation where the elite/rich hate the poor but worse is we have become a nation of poor people who hate other poor people!! F**k all this fear of terrorism and crime, if it were all true why has cameron cut the armed forces and the police? Give me my freedom and i will take my chances in the big bad world!

If the government has access to every email you’ve ever written and every text/phone call you’ve ever made, it’s almost certain that they would find something you’ve done which breaks some ancient law or some new Anti-terror law especially if you poor!