Perspective: EncryptionWill Canada Weaken Encryption with Backdoors?
Imagine you wake up one morning and discover that the federal government is requiring everyone to keep their back doors unlocked. First responders need access your house in an emergency, they say, and locked doors are a significant barrier to urgent care. For the good of the nation, public health concerns outweigh the risk to your privacy and security. Sounds crazy, right? Byron Holland writes that, unfortunately, a number of governments are considering a policy just like this for the internet, and there’s growing concern that the Canadian government could soon follow suit.
Imagine you wake up one morning and discover that the federal government is requiring everyone to keep their back doors unlocked. First responders need access your house in an emergency, they say, and locked doors are a significant barrier to urgent care. For the good of the nation, public health concerns outweigh the risk to your privacy and security.
Sounds crazy, right? Byron Holland writes for McLean’s that, unfortunately, a number of governments are considering a policy just like this for the internet, and there’s growing concern that the Canadian government could soon follow suit.
Every day millions of online transactions are protected by a technology called encryption. Encryption is a form of security just like the lock on your house. It prevents outsiders from snooping in on your information and content as it passes over the web. It secures everything from banking information to military communications to online dating apps. It also protects critical infrastructure like hydroelectric dams and the internet.
Right now, there is an ongoing debate over so-called “encryption backdoors,” special access points that governments can force or compel tech companies to build. Essentially, these are unlocked doors on the web that allow authorities to access encrypted communications without users’ consent.
Holland writes:
In 1993, before consumer encryption technology was widely available, the Clinton administration announced the “Clipper Chip” a chip-based encryption technology that would secure voice and data communications. The National Security Agency offered tech companies looking to use military-grade encryption, in exchange for backdoor access to communications protected by the device.
Very quickly, security experts exposed Clipper Chip’s vulnerabilities and showed how attackers could exploit the backdoor to access encrypted communications. The technical flaw was an embarrassing blow to the project and it was dropped shortly thereafter.
Flash forward to Jul. 2019, and members of the “Five Eyes” security alliance (the U.S., U.K., New Zealand, Australia and Canada), are pushing tech companies to build backdoors into their products and services. The countries argue that backdoors are necessary for law enforcement to gain special access to encrypted data during investigations of, drug trafficking or organized crime, for example, where other investigative tactics might fall short.
