U.S., U.K. and Australia to Call on Facebook to Create Backdoor to Encrypted Messages
“Security enhancements to the virtual world should not make us more vulnerable in the physical world,” the open letter reads. “We must find a way to balance the need to secure data with public safety and the need for law enforcement to access the information they need to safeguard the public, investigate crimes, and prevent future criminal activity. Not doing so hinders our law enforcement agencies’ ability to stop criminals and abusers in their tracks.”
The letter specifically focuses on the threat of child sexual exploitation and abuse, noting that Facebook’s combination of encrypted messaging and open profiles could provide “unique routes for prospective offenders to identify and groom our children.”
“In 2018, Facebook made 16.8 million reports to the US National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) – more than 90 percent of the 18.4 million total reports that year,” the letter states. “NCMEC estimates that 70 percent of Facebook’s reporting – 12 million reports globally – would be lost [if Facebook implements encryption as planned].”
The letter asserts that the governments “support strong encryption” while also demanding “a means for lawful access to the content of communications” – an apparent reference to a so-called “backdoor” into the encrypted communications.
Governments have often proposed such backdoors as a compromise measure, but security experts argue that it is impossible to provide limited access to encrypted communication without weakening privacy overall (see Adam Conner-Simons, “Giving government special access to data poses major security risks,” HSNW, 13 July 2015; and “Reframing the encryption debate,” HSNW, 2 February 2016).
“We believe people have the right to have a private conversation online, wherever they are in the world,” the Facebook spokesperson said. “Ahead of our plans to bring more security and privacy to our messaging apps, we are consulting closely with child safety experts, governments and technology companies and devoting new teams and sophisticated technology so we can use all the information available to us to help keep people safe.”
In 2016, the FBI attempted to compel Apple to unlock an iPhone belonging to one of the killers in the San Bernardino, California, mass shooting. The FBI was eventually able to broke into the phone by using a third-party software.
In 2018, in India, the authorities were unable to monitor false rumors spread in encrypted messages – rumors which led to a wave of lynchings of women.
“The UK, United States, and Australian authorities are once again falling into a false dichotomy between security and encryption,” Guillermo Beltra, the policy director of the digital rights organization Access Now, told the Guardian. “The reality is that encryption is an essential technology that strengthens the security of the internet’s infrastructure and enables users to enjoy their civil and political rights and express themselves freely.”
