Tech leaders are calling on the government to amend the Online Safety Bill, which they warn could break end-to-end encryption and Signal have issued a warning that the Government’s Online Safety Bill could open the door to ‘indiscriminate surveillance’ of personal communications.
The Government has argued that Ofcom will only be able to make companies use technology to identify child sexual abuse material in ‘appropriate and limited circumstances’. ‘The UK wants its own special access into end-to-end encrypted systems,’ he said. ‘Bad actors don’t play by the rules. Rogue nation states, terrorists, and criminals will target that access with every resource they have.
‘The Online Safety Bill in no way represents a ban on end-to-end encryption, nor will it require services to weaken encryption. Around the world, businesses, individuals and governments face persistent threats from online fraud, scams and data theft. Malicious actors and hostile states routinely challenge the security of our critical infrastructure. End-to-end encryption is one of the strongest possible defenses against these threats, and as vital institutions become ever more dependent on internet technologies to conduct core operations, the stakes have never been higher.