Opposition to Surveillance: WhatsApp and Other Messaging Apps Take a Stand
WhatsApp and other messaging services have urged the government to rethink the Online Safety Bill (OSB) as it could undermine end-to-end encryption which allows messages to be read only on the sender and recipient's app and nowhere else. The bill would allow regulators to request the platforms to monitor users to weed out images of child abuse. WhatsApp and other companies have issued an open letter in which they warn that the bill could lead to "routine, general and indiscriminate surveillance" of personal messages. WhatsApp would rather be blocked in the UK than weaken the privacy of encrypted messaging. Signal and Threema have both said that they would leave the UK should encryption be undermined. The companies have said that they will not weaken encryption, and they refuse to comply with the government's request.
The government believes it is possible to have both privacy and child safety. A government official has said that "we support strong encryption, but this cannot come at the cost of public safety. Tech companies have a moral duty to ensure they are not blinding themselves and law enforcement to the unprecedented levels of child sexual abuse on their platforms. The Online Safety Bill in no way represents a ban on end-to-end encryption, nor will it require services to weaken encryption."
The bill would enable Ofcom to make companies scan messages, text, images, videos and files, with "approved technology" in order to identify child sexual abuse material. However, the communications regulator told Politico that it would do so only if there was an "urgent need" and "would need a high bar of evidence in order to be able to require that a technology went into an encrypted environment."
In its current form, the OSB opens the door to "routine, general and indiscriminate surveillance" of personal messages, according to the open letter. The bill risks "emboldening hostile governments who may seek to draft copycat laws". Europe-based Proton, best known for its encrypted email service, worries features in its Drive product may bring it within the scope of the bill. The company's Andy Yen has suggested that it could leave the UK if the law comes into force unamended, as it would no longer be able "to operate a service that is premised upon defending user privacy".
Liberal Democrat digital-economy spokesman Lord Clement-Jones, who is backing an amendment to the bill, said: "The OSB as it stands could lead to a duty to surveil every message anyone sends. We need to know the government's intentions on this." It was important to retain properly encrypted services, he told BBC News, and he expected Ofcom to issue a code of practice for how it intended to use the law.
Children's charities say that encrypted-messaging companies could do more to prevent their platforms' misuse. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) said that there were record levels of online child sexual abuse, with victims, mostly girls, targeted at an increasingly young age.
In conclusion, the Online Safety Bill could compromise privacy and lead to "routine, general and indiscriminate surveillance" of personal messages. Encrypted messaging services such as WhatsApp, Signal and Threema have warned against undermining encryption, saying that they will refuse to comply with the government's request. Children's charities have called for encrypted-messaging companies to do more to prevent their platforms' misuse.
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