UK Data Watchdog Sides Against Gov’t in Encryption Debate

The U.K.’s data watchdog has sided against the government’s campaign to delay end-to-end encryption for private messaging.

As UK Tech reported Friday (Jan. 21), the British government has lent its support to the “No End to Hide Campaign” launched by child safety advocates, arguing that end-to-end encryption (E2EE) stops law enforcement from uncovering harmful content such as child abuse imagery.

Privacy advocates counter that E2EE — in which only the sender and recipients can see the contents of a massage — is vital for protecting legitimate conversations, such as with a bank’s support staff.

It’s this second group that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has backed, saying E2EE is “crucial for businesses” and that making messaging services less secure would make children more at risk for certain threats, such as blackmail.

“E2EE is seen by some to hinder the clampdown on child abusers because it leaves law enforcers blind to harmful content,” said Stephen Bonner, executive director for innovation and technology at the ICO. “But having access to encrypted content is not the only way to catch abusers. Law enforcers have other methods such as listening to reports of those targeted, infiltrating the groups planning these offenses, using evidence from convicted abusers and their systems to identify other offenders.”

Bonner added that E2EE allows businesses to “share information securely and fosters consumer confidence in digital services, and said the government should redirect its efforts into other ways to keep kids safe.

“Until we look properly at the consequences, it is hard to see any case for reconsidering the use of E2EE — delaying its use leaves everyone at risk, including children,” said Bonner.

Read more: Facebook and Instagram Encryption Delayed to 2023

This debate is happening as Meta is pushing back its plan to encrypt Facebook and Instagram until 2023, a move that came after warnings from child safety advocates. Meta had already been using E2EE on its messaging platform WhatsApp and had planned to add it to Facebook Messenger and Instagram this year.

A report from the National Crime Agency (NCA) showed there were more than 21 million child sexual abuse referrals around the world sent to the U.S. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2020 that had their roots in the tech industry. Of that number, 20 million reports came from Facebook.