Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has hit back at calls by the US, UK, and Australian governments to block end-to-end encryption in messaging apps. In doing so, he joins Apple, Google, Microsoft, and others who have previously stood up for strong encryption.
As we learned yesterday, the US attorney general and acting head of Homeland Security have co-signed an open letter with the UK’s secretary of state for the Home Office and Australia’s minister for Home Affairs…
The letter was sent to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, urging him to abandon plans to implement end-to-end encryption as standard across all its messaging apps – or alternatively to build in a back-door for government access.
Although Facebook is the target in this case, authorities have been putting similar pressure on other tech giants whose apps use end-to-end encryption, which include’s Apple’s iMessage and FaceTime.
End-to-end encryption should mean that only chat participants can read the messages, and that the tech companies themselves have no means of doing so. However, the UK government came up with a plan which would subvert this, known as the ‘ghost user’ proposal.
This is what the letter asks Facebook to do if it goes ahead with the switch to strong encryption across all its services.
In short, Apple — or any other company that allows people to privately chat — would be forced to allow the government to join those chats as a silent, invisible eavesdropper.
Currently, WhatsApp messages use end-to-end encryption, but Facebook Messenger doesn’t unless you select the Secret Chat feature in the mobile app.
Apple, Google, Microsoft and others have previously completely rejected the ghost user idea, arguing that it puts both privacy and security at risk, though Facebook was silent on the issue at the time.
The letter includes the usual justification of fighting terrorism – ignoring the fact that terrorists are exceedingly unlikely to trust any mainstream chat platform – but this time throws in a strong dose of ‘Won’t someone please think of the children?’
Reuters reports Zuckerberg arguing that there are other approaches to protecting child safety which would likely be more effective than banning end-to-end encryption in messaging apps.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has strongly condemned the letter.
He also suggested the company might further limit the ways adults can interact with minors on Facebook’s platforms.
Photo: Shutterstock
