UK starts laying groundwork for another assault on privacy

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel is reportedly to sign a transatlantic agreement offering the UK Government more clout over the stubborn messaging platforms.

First and foremost, this is not a pact between the UK and US which would compel the messaging platforms to break their encryption protections, but it is a step towards offering the UK Government more opportunity.

According to The Times, Patel will sign an agreement with the US next month which will offer the UK powers to compel US companies which offer messaging services to handover data to police forces, intelligence services and prosecutors. After the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act was signed into law last year, the US Government was afforded the opportunity to share more data with foreign governments, and this would appear to be the first of such agreements.

This is of course not the first time the UK Government has set its eyes on undermining user privacy. Former-Home Secretary Amber Rudd was the champion of the Government efforts to break the blockage during yesteryear, attempting to force these companies to introduce ‘backdoors’ which would enable the access of information.

There are of course numerous reasons why this would be seen as an awful idea. Firstly, the introduction of a back-door is a vulnerability by design. It doesn’t matter how well secured it is, if there is a vulnerability the nefarious actors in the darker corners of the web will find it.

Secondly, stringent security measures should not be undermined for the sake of it or because the consumer is not driven by security as a reason for using the services. Your correspondent does not buy a car because it has the best airbags, but he would be irked if they didn’t work when called upon.

Finally, governments and public offices have not proven themselves responsible enough to hand over such a potential violation of the human right to privacy. And let’s not forget, Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights is solely focused on privacy.

What is worth noting is this pact with the US Government is not a measure to introduce back-doors into encryption software, but you should always bear in mind what the UK Government is driving towards with incremental steps. It is easy to forget the bigger picture when small steps are made, but how often have you looked back and wondered how we got to a certain situation?

The CLOUD Act offers the US agencies the right to collect limited information from the messaging platform providers. Currently, US authorities can request information such as who the user is messaging, when and the frequency. The law does not grant access to the content of the messages, though it is a step towards wielding greater control and influence over the social media companies.

Should Patel sign this agreement, and it is still an if right now, this power would be extended to the UK Government to collect information on UK citizens.

What is worth noting is this is not official, though it would not surprise us. Rudd attempted to revolutionise the relationship between the UK Government and messaging platforms, and this failed spectacularly. This would be a more reasonable approach, taking baby steps towards the ultimate goal.