Britain admits defeat in its controversial fight to break encryption.

Tech companies and privacy activists are claiming victory after an eleventh-hour concession by the British government.

The UK government has admitted that the technology needed to securely scan encrypted messages sent on Signal and WhatsApp doesn’t exist, weakening its controversial Online Safety Bill.

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/britain-admits-defeat-in-online-safety-bill-encryption

#UK #OnlineSafetyBill #OSB #Internet #WhatsApp #Signal #Encryption #Legal #Law

"The UK government will concede it will not use controversial powers in the online safety bill to scan messaging apps for harmful content"
https://www.ft.com/content/770e58b1-a299-4b7b-a129-bded8649a43b

To be honest, I expected this to happen in spite of troubling statements from gov't. Relieved to see they finally started to get it. Bad news though: Online Safety Bill even without that clause is still a crappy legislation that should be discarded.

#UnitedKingdom #OnlineSafetyBill #Privacy #Encryption #Surveillance #Security

The UK is poised to force a bad law on the Internet.

WhatsApp and Signal have threatened to shut down services in Britain if the Online Safety Bill includes restrictions that undermine encryption. The government is pushing it through anyway.

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/the-uk-is-poised-to-force-a-bad-law-on-the-internet

#UK #OnlineSafetyBill #OSB #Internet #WhatsApp #Signal #Encryption #Legal #Law

@GossiTheDog and we thought they wanted to keep people safe online.

How we laughed.

#OnlineSafetyBill

Prof Alan Woodward, a cyber-security expert at University of Surrey, who has worked in posts at GCHQ, said:

"So many of us have signed letters, given formal evidence to committees, directly offered to advise - either the government doesn't understand or doesn't want to listen.

"Ignorance combined with arrogance is a dangerous mix."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-66304002

#OnlineSafetyBill #E2EE #UKPolitics

Few of us warned re below at yesterday's final debate on #OnlineSafetyBill. Also WhatsApp & Signal etc saying they'll pull out of UK if encryption threatened. Gov minister shrugged, gaslighting opponents who raise privacy fears by standing on moral high ground of child protection
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Sam Bowman 🇺🇦: "Apple says it will remove services such as FaceTime and iMessage from the UK rather than weaken security if new proposals are made law and acted upon." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-66256081
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🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/Fox_Claire/status/1682092382945157135

Re See speech on encryption / privacy here https://n.respublicae.eu/Fox_Claire/status/1681952207015387137?t=yHXKP1YiuJ1j7wYW_rL5_g&amp;s=19
<div class="rsshub-quote">
Claire Fox: Later, I attempted to defend encryption and our privacy. #OnlineSafetyBill gives Ofcom powers to demand *all* our private messages are scanned, in the name of child protection.
https://youtu.be/AbJqea9DoGM
</div>

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/Fox_Claire/status/1682108280632406016

A thread of speeches and questions on the #OnlineSafetyBill from yesterday on everything from Ofcom powers to media literacy, misinformation units to Big Tech filters. Buckle in...

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/Fox_Claire/status/1681397229607698434

Re At last! Other Lords highlighting threat of the #OnlineSafetyBill to free speech. Demands on Big Tech to remove illegal content will lead to risk-averse removal of all sorts of content. My own amendment attempts to also ensure user-empowerment filtering...
https://youtu.be/TkuGnFuq4sM

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/Fox_Claire/status/1681397252139433985

Another #OnlineSafetyBill day. I began with my concerns around the lack of democracy in the Bill - the government tries to avoid saying it is censoring, BUT...
https://youtu.be/cP4VIfutoiA

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/Fox_Claire/status/1679228751391981569

Re ...is passing law to give huge powers to an 'independent' regulator (Ofcom) which then forces platforms to remove online content it deems harmful. Smoke and mirrors. #OnlineSafetyBill.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/Fox_Claire/status/1679228755179339776

Re Then, there were plaudits for the government asking Ofcom to produce guidance for protections for women and girls in the #OnlineSafetyBill. There is a problem with conflating words and actions. HOWEVER, the elephant in the room...
https://youtu.be/CGIdg1WQveM

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/Fox_Claire/status/1679228759545634817

Re A quick follow up question to the minister, as I was irritated he misrepresented my point, batting away my point about abuse aimed at woman for daring to state they know what a woman is. #OnlineSafetyBill
https://youtu.be/7D0lD1C9i3w

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/Fox_Claire/status/1679228766982217730

Re I then moved on to a defence of press freedom. #OnlineSafetyBill exempts Recognised News Publishers from regulation. Good. But bound to be disputes about who will pass the test as recognised. And will public really be prevented from clipping from news?
https://youtu.be/l1lv4RSzUpE

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/Fox_Claire/status/1679228770606014467

My free expression amendments to the #OnlineSafetyBill from yesterday. Obviously, the only Lords who the government seem to listen to are those pushing for more safety measures at the expense of freedom of expression. So...
https://youtu.be/CGIdg1WQveM

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/Fox_Claire/status/1678758601920491521

Re ...The Conservative front bench has made 100s of concessions to that side. A few of us battle on raising free speech concerns within the #OnlineSafetyBill. The government at least needs to squirm for bringing in such a censorious law.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/Fox_Claire/status/1678758605145911297

Re Later on, I summed up, stressing that free speech is not about being able to say anything, anwhere. Instead, people can police their own speech - but the #OnlineSafetyBill won't allow it...
https://youtu.be/R11vPZnVTP4

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/Fox_Claire/status/1678758607381463040

Re ...My concern is state-enabled censorship. And when someone loses their job for their views (eg @MForstater) it is UK law to which we should turn, not Silicon Valley terms of service. Who decides what views are banned online via the #OnlineSafetyBill, anyway?...

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/Fox_Claire/status/1678758609931612160

Re ...Balancing speech and law is always fraught. But with a police woman declaring misgendering is illegal (it isn't, by the way), or the state forcing algorithms and Big-Tech employees to remove illegal speech, trusting the #OnlineSafetyBill to police our interactions is dangerous

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/Fox_Claire/status/1678758612095877121

Government seems oblivious. Risk UK losing Wikipedia, WhatsApp &amp; any other innovative tech start-ups. #OnlineSafetyBill = censorious regulation on steroids. Despite headlines on protecting children, most of it will weaken adults' free speech/privacy rights https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/wikipedia-could-shut-down-in-uk-after-online-safety-law-passes-government-told/ar-AA1dwmU0?ocid=entnewsntp&amp;cvid=cce8e9b5e92a4ab4a73f0e0be1560d7c&amp;ei=29

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/Fox_Claire/status/1677390011988164608