Facebook, WhatsApp Will Have to Share Messages With U.K. Police

[alimac]

UK and US set to sign treaty allowing UK police “back door” access to WhatsApp and other “end to end encrypted” messaging platforms

UK police will be able to force US-based social media platforms to hand over users' messages, including those that are "end to end encrypted," under a treaty that is set to be signed next month.
According to a report in The Times, investigations into certain serious criminal offenses, including pedophilia and terrorism, will be covered under the agreement between the two countries.

Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a large splash in March when he committed to encryption for Facebook's key messaging services, including WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger.

The UK government has been skeptical of Facebook's encryption plans, imploring the firm to create "back doors" which would enable intelligence agencies to gain access to messaging platforms for matters of national security. Under the planned treaty, neither the US or UK would investigate the other country's citizens.

The news of the agreement between the US and UK is sure to ramp up discussion of the effectiveness of "end to end encryption" when implemented by large corporations. Facebook is currently being investigated by numerous nations and states for privacy violations, which may make it difficult to ensure that encryption equals true data privacy and censorship resistance.

 

[Bikerboyh1!]

I've always worked on the principle that no Government in the world would allow companies to have encryption they couldn't break when needed. Clearly its a fine line to walk for them legally.

 

[janobi]

Soon as this happens people will just move to other encrypted chat programs. Telegram, signal, cryptocat etc. Also if it's end to end, I dont understand how they can provide them with the information. You'd need the private key to read the messages. PGP ftw!

 

[iptvuk66]

if people are so worries about there privacy then why not just use pgp or purchase encrypted phones ??

 

[janobi]

if people are so worries about there privacy then why not just use pgp or purchase encrypted phones ??

Encrypted phones are very expensive, and also not viable as the CEO has been locked up for RICO in the US.

PGP is an option, but it involves people learning how to use PGP, which isn't viable for joe bloggs.

 

[avid]

I bet there is a few celebs and politicians wish they had used an encrypted phone.

 

[janobi]

I bet there is a few celebs and politicians wish they had used an encrypted phone.

It's not normally those that give up the details, it's normally the PA or someone with access. When it comes to OSINT, people are the weakest link.