[news] David Cameron's plan to abolish encryption

[abillybob]

UK government looks to ban strong encryption from devices | IT PRO

 

seriously... why does he insist on messing with things he's not good at!!!!?

 

The UK government is set to announce new laws that would force tech companies to hold a special key that unencrypts data held on devices, before passing it over to intelligence agencies.Companies such as Apple, Google, Microsoft and others would no longer be able to offer “unbreakable” encryption in products sold in the UK, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The Investigatory Powers Bill (or Snooper’s Charter in common parlance) would require technology firms and ISPs to provide unencrypted communications to law enforcement or intelligence agencies when they produce a warrant.

The bill would also require ISPs to retain the browsing history of customers - but not the specific pages they visit - for up to a year.

Devices with end-to-end encryption that is nearly impossible to break using current techniques provide a “safe space” for criminals, terrorists and paedophiles, the government believes.

Prime Minister David Cameron pleaded with the public and MPs to back the law, despite overwhelming criticism that it would violate user privacy and would essentially make many online tasks, such as online banking, impossible to fully secure.

“As Prime Minister I would just say to people ‘please, let's not have a situation where we give terrorists, criminals, child abductors, safe spaces to communicate,” he told ITV’s This Morning show. “It's not a safe space for them to communicate on a fixed line telephone or a mobile phone, we shouldn't allow the internet to be a safe space for them to communicate and do bad things.”

 

[ICTDirect_Dave]

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