Authorities in the UK are reportedly planning a multi-level assault against end-to-end encryption and privacy.
M&C Saatchi, a public advertising firm, was contracted to conduct a shady advertisement campaign that will cause alarm by hinting how end-to-end encryption protects child abuse in indirect manner.
The majority of the public is unaware of end-to-end encryption and might easily be misled on the subject. Online activists slammed the UK government’s marketing strategy as “scaremongering.”
Meta, the company that owns Messenger and Instagram, declared in November that it will postpone its ambitions and complete worldwide end-to-end encryption “sometime in 2023.” Meta currently employs end-to-end encryption on its WhatsApp messaging service and intends to expand it to Messenger and Instagram messaging in 2022. On Messenger, it already encrypted voice and video conversations.
The UK government has been one of the most vocal in the democratic world in its opposition to end-to-end encryption – to the point that several former top security officers have expressed outrage.
“The Home Office’s scaremongering campaign is as disingenuous as it is dangerous,†said Robin Wilton, director of Internet Trust at the Internet Society. “Without strong encryption, children are more vulnerable online than ever. Encryption protects personal safety and national security … what the government is proposing puts everyone at risk.â€
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