EU’s encryption proposal vs UK’s plan to tackle terror

The UK and the EU are at loggerheads once again, but it’s not what you might think. This is not another Brexit debate, but a tussle over encryption. The British government is keen to exploit flaws in tech services for intelligence-gathering and surveillance operations. Home Secretary Amber Rudd, backed by Downing Street, has persistently called for access to WhatsApp, a service used by terrorists in the March attack at Westminster. But on Monday, a European Parliament committee proposed an amendment to incoming legislation that would prevent member states from trying to decrypt encrypted communications, as well as compelling tech companies that don’t already use end-to-end encryption to do so. The proposal would protect internet companies from national governments pressuring them to create security flaws, or backdoors, that they could use to hack into people’s emails or other messages. The different approaches are emblematic of a debate raging around the world, boiling down to whether tech companies poke security holes in their products so that governments can spy on potential terrorists, or whether they should keep communications locked up tight so as to protect the privacy and safety of internet users. You saw it in the fight that Apple put up against the FBI’s efforts to compel the company to create a backdoor into a terrorist’s iPhone. While the UK wants to ensure that terrorists have no place to hide, the EU is determined to protect the privacy of law-abiding internet users. With four terrorist incidents in the country over the last four months, the British government and intelligence agencies are under pressure to explain why it was unable to thwart the attacks. It blames technology. Following the June 4 attack on London Bridge, Theresa May stood outside Downing Street and in her speech, pointed her finger at “the internet — and the big companies that provide internet-based services” for providing a safe space for extremist ideologies to flourish. “As the nature of the threat we face becomes more complex, more fragmented, more hidden, especially online, the strategy needs to keep up,” she said, calling for more online regulations. Prime Minister Theresa May has long been in favor for of increasing the UK’s surveillance powers, introducing two bills nicknamed the “Snooper’s Charter”. The second of these bills, the Investigatory Powers Act, passed into law under her own leadership of the country. The Prime Minister wants the internet to be weak and penetrable, say her critics. They also claim she is using this issue right now to reinforce her own image as “strong and stable” — her slogan during the recent election campaign. “To push on with these extreme proposals for internet clampdowns would appear to be a distraction from the current political situation and from effective measures against terror,” said Jim Killock, director of human rights non-profit Open Rights Group.