Whatsapp and Signal warn UK bill could open door to 'indiscriminate surveillance'

Tuesday 18 April 2023 2:44 pm Whatsapp is owned by Meta. Encrypted messaging apps, including Whatsapp, Signal and Viber, have warned that the Online Safety Bill could lead to “indiscriminate surveillance” of people’s personal messages and called for end-to-end encryption to be protected at all costs. The bill is intended to protect underage users on the internet by clamping down on illegal material and placing a legal responsibility on companies to monitor and remove it. But tech companies have warned that the bill could grant the UK communications regulator, Ofcom, with broad powers to access people’s encrypted messaging apps. “As currently drafted, the bill could break end-to-end encryption, opening the door to routine, general and indiscriminate surveillance of personal messages of friends, family members, employees, executives, journalists, human rights activists and even politicians themselves, which would fundamentally undermine everyone’s ability to communicate securely,” the companies said in an open letter to the UK government. The Home Office, however, responded saying the bill “in no way represents a ban on end-to-end encryption.” “We support strong encryption, but this cannot come at the cost of public safety. Tech companies have a moral duty to ensure they are not blinding themselves and law
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