Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Signal would 'walk' from UK if Online Safety Bill undermined encryption

Signal would 'walk' from UK if Online Safety Bill undermined encryption

The encrypted-messaging app Signal has said it would stop providing services in the UK if a new law undermined encryption.

If forced to weaken the privacy of its messaging system under the Online Safety Bill, the organisation "would absolutely, 100% walk" Signal president Meredith Whittaker told the BBC.

The government said its proposal was not "a ban on end-to-end encryption".

The bill, introduced by Boris Johnson, is currently going through Parliament.

Critics say companies could be required by Ofcom to scan messages on encrypted apps for child sexual abuse material or terrorism content under the new law.

This has worried firms whose business is enabling private, secure communication.

Element, a UK company whose customers include the Ministry of Defence, told the BBC the plan would cost it clients.

Previously, WhatsApp has told the BBC it would refuse to lower security for any government.


'Magical thinking'


The government, and prominent child protection charities have long argued that encryption hinders efforts to combat online child abuse - which they say is a growing problem.

"It is important that technology companies make every effort to ensure that their platforms do not become a breeding ground for paedophiles," the Home Office said in a statement.

It added "The Online Safety Bill does not represent a ban on end-to-end encryption but makes clear that technological changes should not be implemented in a way that diminishes public safety - especially the safety of children online.

"It is not a choice between privacy or child safety - we can and we must have both."

Child protection charity the NSPCC said in reaction to Signal's announcement: "Tech companies should be required to disrupt the abuse that is occurring at record levels on their platforms, including in private messaging and end-to-end encrypted environments."

But the digital rights campaigners the Open Rights Group said it highlighted how the bill threatened to "undermine our right to communicate securely and privately".

Signal messages are protected by end-to-end encryption


But Ms Whittaker told the BBC it was "magical thinking" to believe we can have privacy "but only for the good guys".

She added: "Encryption is either protecting everyone or it is broken for everyone."

She said the Online Safety Bill "embodied" a variant of this magical thinking.

Signal has had over 100 million app downloads on the Google store alone.

It uses end-to-end encryption, a system where messages are scrambled so that even the company operating the service cannot read them.

Operated by a Californian based not-for-profit organisation, the app's users include journalists, activists and politicians.


WhatsApp also uses end-to-end encryption, as does Apple's iMessage system and optionally Facebook and Telegram.

Apple had proposed a system where messages sent from phones and other devices would be scanned for child abuse images before being encrypted but abandoned the plans following a backlash.

Called client-side scanning, some have said this is the approach that tech firms may end up having to use - but critics argue it effectively undermines the point of encryption.

It would in effect turn everyone's phone into a "mass surveillance device that phones home to tech corporations and governments and private entities", Ms Whittaker said.


'Privacy promises'


Ms Whittaker said "back doors" to enable the scanning of private messages would be exploited by "malignant state actors" and "create a way for criminals to access these systems".

Asked if the Online Safety Bill could jeopardise their ability to offer a service in the UK, she told the BBC: "It could, and we would absolutely 100% walk rather than ever undermine the trust that people place in us to provide a truly private means of communication.

"We have never weakened our privacy promises, and we never would."

Matthew Hodgson, chief executive of Element


Matthew Hodgson chief executive of Element, a British secure communications company, said the threat of mandated scanning alone would cost him clients.

He argued that customers would assume any secure communication product that came out of the UK would "necessarily have to have backdoors in order to allow for illegal content to be scanned".

It could also result in "a very surreal situation" where a government bill might undermine security guarantees given to customers at the MoD and other sensitive areas of government, he added.

He also said the firm might have to cease offering some services.


Child safety


Ms Whittaker said: "There's no-one who doesn't want to protect children," adding: "Some of the stories that are invoked are harrowing."

When asked how she would respond to arguments that encryption protects abusers, Ms Whittaker said she believed that most abuse took place in the family and in the community - where she argued the focus of efforts to stop it should be.

She pointed to a paper by Professor Ross Anderson, which argued for better funding of services working in child protection and warned that "the idea that complex social problems are amenable to cheap technical solutions is the siren song of the software salesman".

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
×