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| Britain |
| UK Cracks Down On Privacy |
| 2006-05-21 |
| The UK government is finally ready to pass the third section of the 2000 Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which will make it a crime not to disclose computer security keys if requested to do so by law enforcement agencies. Home Office Minister Liam Byrne told Parliament that the increased use of encryption, including its standard inclusion in operating systems, meant that it is now necessary to introduce the powers in section three of the Act. Suspects who refuse to hand over encryption keys to law enforcement officials could face up to two years in prison under the legislation. The Home Office is currently in the middle of a consultation on the Act, amid fears that financial instructions will move their headquarters out of the UK rather than having to give up master encryption keys that could put customer data at risk. Before 9/11, the NSA wanted this kind of access "to help stop child pornography". Which didn't make a whole lot of sense, as they have nothing to do with child pornography under any circumstance, and do not provide any information about it to the criminal authorities. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #1 The real reason was the abject fear that vast amounts of money, many billions of dollars, would be electronically transferred via encrypted messages, which the US government would neither know about or be able to prevent. Not an unreasonable concern. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-05-21 20:20 |