EU and UK ISPs Oppose Moves to Ban End-to-End Encryption
Why We Have Encryption
Let’s say you were thinking about doing some online banking. Perhaps you want to have a look at your balance or setup a payment. At the time of writing, your web browser would set up an encrypted link to the bank.
Encryption is the thing that scrambles your messages between your computer (phone chromebook etc.) and the bank. No one else can read that.. it looks like rubbish. This is a form of end-to-end encryption. It is specifically designed to ensure that no one can get at that data.
After all, you’re hardly likely to stand at the top of the high street and shout out your name, address, bank sort code, account number, username and password so that everyone who hears it can go and logon with your details and steal all you hard earned cash.
Encryption is so prevalent that even this website uses it and there’s nothing that important going on here!
If you go to a website that doesn’t use encryption your browser will point out that the site you are on is “Not Secure”.
This means of course that if you have a secure connection with end-to-end encryption and the application just happens to be ‘WhatsApp’ or any other many online messaging application, then your messages can only be read by you the sender and the recipient.
Stupid Politicians Loose Again
This is a surprise (NOT!).
The issue with secure end-to-end encryption is that the security entities around the world such as NSA, GCHQ et. al. can’t read these messages.
There is plenty of intelligence they can gather such as who is talking to who, where and when but not the actual message content.
The security services would love to be able to monitor every message everyone sends to everyone else however Edward Snowdon thankfully put an end to that. After all why should anyone allow the security services to have access to their online Amazon or food shopping history through mass surveillance?
The very badly informed and ill educated political world has decided in its wisdom to apply pressure to the likes of Facebook to drop plans for end-to-end encrypted communications. This will enable them to spy on terrorists and other major crime suspects. Not happy with that they also want a ‘back door’ into encryption services.
This means that all encrypted communications would become un-encrypted due to the back door. Worse, once the criminal element gain access to the back door then encryption would be useless.
Designed with the aim of gaining access to nefarious communication between a few suspects, this will destroy on-line safety for everyone. Criminals and hackers would be able to get at everything such as:-
- Bank transfers
- Medical records
- Smart homes
- Emails
- Card payment systems
- Confidential files
- Government itself (with any luck)
Every element of life that requires any online transaction could be hacked. The possibilities are endless once the security of encryption are removed.
The Real Reason for Encryption Removal
Mass surveillance.
Ever since the Snowdon revelations and the subsequent tightening of access to public messaging for the security services, the surveillance industry has mourned the loss of open access.
Encryption has rolled out across almost every online service since… yes even us!
What do the ISPs Think?
You could argue over who is echoing who’s thoughts but the Internet Service Providers don’t want to see the end of encryption and neither should you.
Not because you may be an organised crime gang, or trying to carry out terrorist activities because you’re not. You are decent honest people who carry out your lives on-line. You have internet banking, you do at least some of your shopping online and you pay for goods and services using your credit/debit cards. You are totally dependant on the security that encryption brings.
