Security News > 2021 > April > Won't somebody please think of the children!!! UK to mount fresh assault on end-to-end encryption in Facebook

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel will badmouth Facebook's use of end-to-end encryption on Monday evening as she links the security technology with paedophilia, terrorism, organised crime, and so on.

The ever-popular politician will say at the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children event: "Sadly, at a time when we need to be taking more action, Facebook are pursuing end-to-end encryption plans that place the good work and progress achieved so far in jeopardy."

Bureaucrats' favoured way of campaigning against messaging apps' adoption of E2E encryption is to depict it as actively putting children into harm's way.

In a prepared statement, a Facebook spokesperson said E2E encryption's "Rollout on our messaging services is a long-term project and we are building strong safety measures into our plans."

Law enforcement agencies claim that E2E encryption would make it more difficult for them to investigate crimes at all levels.

Last year the National Crime Agency revealed the depth of splits within the establishment; the agency claimed a sex offender "Wouldn't have been caught" if Facebook had enabled E2E encryption, but also revealed that classic join-the-dots policing led to his identification and arrest.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/04/19/uk_anti_encryption/