UK tries to claim it hasn't backed down on encryption at all
William GallagherUK Houses of Parliament
Despite introducing a clause that means its Online Safety Bill is no longer a concern for Apple, Whatsapp, or users, the UK government is insisting with a straight face that it's still exactly as tough on Big Tech as before.
On Wednesday, the UK Parliament debated an Online Safety Bill that, in its original form, would have seen Apple, WhatsApp, Signal and more shutter their messaging and social media services in the country. Bowing to that pressure, the UK regulator Ofcom introduced a face-saving clause that effectively stopped the country's nonsensical demands to break end-to-end encryption.
Except, the Conservative government that was pushing for this — against the advice of security experts and even an ex-MI5 head — insists that it has not even blinked.
"We haven't changed the bill at all," UK technology minister Michelle Donelan told Times Radio, as spotted by Reuters.
"If there was a situation where the mitigations that the social media providers are taking are not enough," she continued, "and if after further work with the regulator they still can't demonstrate that they can meet the requirements within the bill, then the conversation about technology around encryption takes place."
Ofcom's amendment to the bill said that firms such as Apple would be ordered to open up their encryption only "where technically feasible and where technology has been accredited as meeting minimum standards of accuracy in detecting only child sexual abuse and exploitation content."
There is no technology today that will allow only the good guys to break end-to-end encryption — and there never will be.
Consequently the Tory government can argue — and is arguing — that no word has been changed in the bill. But words have been added, and they neuter the entire nonsensical and unenforceable plan.
While the UK has been debating this, its schoolchildren have been returning to schools — and then been forced to stay away again because of rampant unsafe building conditions.
Mike Wuerthele
Malcolm Owen
Chip Loder
Christine McKee
Michael Stroup
8 Comments
The neutering of this aspect of the bill was completely inevitable. What is interesting is why the government, despite knowing full well the negative consequences to end to end encrypted services, attempted to argue the opposite for so long? To which constituency were they appealing?
Coming from our useless government that tells you black is white and up is down this should be no surprise. As it will be no surprise when they try raising the same plan again.
I wonder if it might actually be a public service to the world for the UK to implement its stupid law. Let them and everyone else see the consequences of stupidity.
The UK already did this with Brexit -- they demonstrated to every other country in the EU just how incredibly stupid it is to leave the EU. I bet it will now be a very long time indeed before any other country seriously considers following the UK's boneheaded move.
Make no mistake -- this entire proposal, from start to finish, was intended simply as a distraction from the 19 other, much larger scandals the Tory government is facing. Raw sewage in the lakes and ocean around the UK, the privatisation and robber-baron destruction of the public utilities and transportation system, overpaid officials raking in "contributions" and "second incomes" from private concerns that influence their vote (aka open baldfaced buying of legislators), the fiasco of Brexit, the plummeting income levels for the middle class and ever-expanding poor, the steady dismantling of the NHS, the worker strikes because people can live on the current wages thanks to widespread inflation and unobtainable mortgages ... the list goes on and on and on.