{"id":6633,"date":"2023-05-10T08:44:20","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T08:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fireoth.com\/?p=6633"},"modified":"2023-05-10T08:44:20","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T08:44:20","slug":"overcoming-the-encryption-conundrum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fireoth.com\/us\/overcoming-the-encryption-conundrum\/","title":{"rendered":"Privacy at stake \u2013 how technology can help us overcome encryption conundrum"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][tm_heading tag=”h5″ custom_google_font=”” font_weight=”500″ text=”Living in the UK can sometimes seem like something of a paradox. The cost-of-living crisis means the country is now home to more foodbanks than McDonald\u2019s, while years of cuts have placed severe pressures on the NHS. At the same time, industrial action has brought the many essential services to a standstill.” font_size=”lg:18″ line_height=”1.94″][tm_spacer size=”lg:25″][vc_column_text]Yet, we still have the right to complain, protest and question the status quo \u2013 and this freedom of speech is one of the fundamental ideologies on which a free society is based.<\/p>\n

One of the most powerful tools of self-expression, and a key source of information, is the internet. It has empowered citizens to unite against tyranny, identify abuses of authority and bring those responsible to justice.<\/p>\n

The Online Safety Bill<\/a>, which is currently being debated in Parliament, has the potential to undermine this freedom.<\/p>\n

The far-reaching piece of legislation aims to regulate how tech companies deal with users\u2019 content on their platforms. One of the many clauses addresses illegal content and will see all user-to-user services and search services required to take \u2018proportionate\u2019 steps to mitigate and effectively manage the risks of harm caused by different categories of illegal content.<\/p>\n

Essentially, this could damage end-to-end encryption, which ensures that nobody, including Google or other third parties, can read messages or access data as it travels between devices.[\/vc_column_text][tm_blockquote style=”02″ text=”It is easy to understand why opponents of the bill are concerned. In the worst-case scenario, it represents the latest in Orwellian censorship and political repression”][vc_column_text]If the bill is passed, messaging platforms, such as WhatsApp and others, must access messages and decide whether their users\u2019 speech is legal – or not. According to the international human rights organisation, Article 19<\/a>, the move is deeply problematic as \u201conly independent judicial authorities should be given the power to make such a determination\u201d.<\/p>\n

Article 19 argues that these assessments are complex and context-dependent, and therefore should be made by \u201ctrained\u201d individuals. Platforms are not happy either \u2014 WhatsApp, Session, Signal, Element, Threema, Viber and Wire have all signed a letter asking the government to \u201curgently rethink\u201d the proposed law.<\/p>\n

WhatsApp has even suggested<\/a> it would leave the UK if the law is passed in its current form.<\/p>\n

Finding the middle ground<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting that the legislation does have noble objectives. Protecting children from harm and stopping the spread of sexually explicit material involving minors should be of utmost importance for big tech firms.<\/p>\n

As we search for balance, there is a method of accessing encrypted messages in instances where harm is being done that should satisfy law enforcement, privacy advocates and the government alike.<\/p>\n

Market-ready solutions can create a pre-agreed side door, which offers messaging platforms the ability to split control and responsibility. The technology, powered by UK-based cybersecurity specialists, Post-Quantum<\/a>, makes it possible to split an encryption key into fragments, creating what is known as a \u2018quorum\u2019.<\/p>\n

Through this process, multiple stakeholders – a court, the police or a privacy rights group – can vote on whether the encryption protecting a message should be unlocked. A simple quorum might require 3\/5 key fragments before access to the data is granted.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s understandable that some might balk at embracing any solution that might weaken encryption, it\u2019s worth considering this viable democratic method of access. And, for those that argue that this method has been tried before – key escrow in the 1990s – technology has come on a long way since.<\/p>\n

With the Online Safety Bill now at the committee stage in the House of Lords, it remains to be seen what the outcome will be.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s certain is the need for a system that preserves our privacy while identifying and persecuting those that abuse the anonymity gifted by encrypted messaging apps.[\/vc_column_text][tm_spacer size=”lg:25″]

<\/div>
Image: Goran Ivos\/Unsplash <\/em><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes”][vc_column][tm_blockquote text=”It’s clear that European countries are taking the lead on global development, while the US takes a big step back.”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2016, the government provided 0.58 per cent of GDP for research and development (R&D) (weighted), below average for CDI countries. The US could improve its score by shifting the R&D from defence to more development-friendly areas, it said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":6634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[66],"class_list":["post-6633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nPrivacy at stake \u2013 how technology can help us overcome encryption conundrum - Fire on the Hill, New York<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the most powerful tools of self-expression, and a key source of information, is the internet. 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