SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 4, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Officials are calling on Facebook
not to use encryption in its messaging services that does not provide
authorities a way to see what is being sent.
The request was made in a letter signed by US Attorney General William
Barr, British home secretary Priti Patel and Australian minister for home
affairs Peter Dutton.
“We are writing to request that Facebook does not proceed with its plan to
implement end-to-end encryption across its messaging services… without
including a means for lawful access to the content of communications to
protect our citizens,” said a copy of the letter obtained by AFP and dated
October 4.
The letter called on Facebook and other companies to make sure messaging
systems were not so well-encrypted that law enforcement couldn’t see “content
in a readable and usable format” when needed.
The request, addressed to Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg, raises anew the
conflict between technology firms intent on protecting user privacy by
scrambling messages with encryption, and government agencies contending that
doing so would let wrongdoers hide their schemes.
The leading social network already encrypts WhatsApp messages from end-to-
end — meaning only the sender and recipient can read the message, which is
saved in encrypted form — and is working to extend the technology to other
apps in its family, including Messenger.
End-to-end encryption protects the messages of over a billion people every
day, according to Facebook.
“It is increasingly used across the communications industry and in many
other important sectors of the economy,” Facebook said in response to an AFP
query.
“We strongly oppose government attempts to build backdoors because they
would undermine the privacy and security of people everywhere.”
During a live-streamed question session with employees, Zuckerberg said the
company recognized the challenge in balancing privacy with fighting crimes
such as child exploitation and terrorism, and was working with authorities to
get it right.
“Having the availability to look at the content is a useful signal, and
when you lose that you are fighting that battle with at least a hand tied
behind your back and you hope there is a lot of good stuff you can do with
your other hand,” Zuckerberg said.
He felt the scale was still tipped toward encryption, which can help
protect journalists, political protesters, and others.
Privacy has been a sore point for Facebook, and users have been clamoring
for encryption of messages, according to Zuckerberg.
Clues such as patterns of behavior and connections between accounts can be
used as signals of illicit behavior even if data in messages can’t be seen,
he noted.
– Scare tactics? –
The nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), based in
Washington, contended that governments signing the letter were using scare
tactics to weaken security of global communications and build in
surveillance.
“Strong encryption and end-to-end security are bedrock technologies that
keep information safe online,” said CDT senior technologist Hannah Quay-de la
Vallee.
“These technologies protect billions of communications every day, from the
sensitive correspondence of victims of domestic violence to businesses’
financial records to our private medical information.”
Facebook early this year said it was trying to get its messaging apps to be
friends, allowing encrypted missives be exchanged no matter which of its
services are used.
The California-based social network is behind free, stand-alone smartphone
apps Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp.
Each service is popular, but users have to be in the same application to
exchange messages.
– CLOUD Act –
The joint letter to Facebook, paired with a freshly signed “CLOUD” data
sharing agreement between Britain and the US, should set off “red flags” for
citizens in both countries who care about governments monitoring and sharing
their communications, the CDT argued.
The CLOUD Act Agreement will allow British and US law enforcement agencies
to demand electronic data regarding serious crimes directly from tech
companies based in the other country, according to a Department of Justice
statement.
The agreement will allow “more efficient and effective access to data
needed for quick-moving investigations,” Barr said in the statement.
“Only by addressing the problem of timely access to electronic evidence of
crime committed in one country that is stored in another, can we hope to keep
pace with twenty-first century threats,” he added.
Facebook interpreted the CLOUD Act to allow technology companies to enable
users to have private online conversations and be required to provide
available information to valid legal requests — not build backdoors into
encrypted systems.
“Creating a law that would mandate weaker and less secure technology is
like mandating crumbling sidewalks to prevent criminals from escaping,” said
Quay-de la Vallee.
“It’s ridiculous, it won’t work, and it puts us all at far greater risk of
serious injury.”