Security News > 2023 > September > UK admits 'spy clause' can't be used for scanning encrypted chat – it's not 'feasible'
Comment Sanity appears to have prevailed in the debate over the UK Online Safety bill after the government agreed to ditch proposals - at least for the time being - to legislate the scanning of encrypted messages.
In response to questions regarding the technical feasibility of scanning messages and the assessments that Ofcom must make, Lord Parkinson, a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport minister, said: "If the appropriate technology does not exist that meets these requirements, then Ofcom will not be able to use Clause 122 to require its use."
Thus no scanning of encrypted messages unless it is technically feasible to do so.
Victory? Not so fast.... The statements have been widely interpreted as a victory for technology firms, many of which had threatened to exit the UK over the requirement that it must be possible for encrypted messages to be scanned for illegal content.
Matthew Hodgson, CEO of Element, said: "The government saying 'no scanning until it's technically feasible' is nonsense. Scanning is fundamentally incompatible with end-to-end encrypted messaging apps. Scanning bypasses the encryption in order to scan, exposing your messages to attackers."
"It's terrible because the law still says that scanning can be obligated on encrypted messaging providers, it would still undermine end to end encryption. And all it is [doing] is pushing it slightly down the line until somebody decides it's technically feasible, which is a completely subjective thing."