Policy Observatory

Julian King, the UK’s new European Commissioner said that he believed encryption backdoors would weaken the online ecosystem as a whole. Regarding data protection questions he would “respect purpose limitations,” citing recent court rulings in the Digital Rights Ireland and the Max Schrems cases. Moreover, despite the ongoing controversy over PNR, King said he wanted to implement existing instruments “to the full.”

The UK government is planning to push greater surveillance powers that would force internet providers to monitor communications in near-realtime and install backdoor equipment to break encryption, according to a leaked document.

The terrorist attack in Manchester on 22 May has led to a relaunch of the encryption debate in the UK.

In December 2016, the UK parliament passed the Investigatory Powers Act. This wide-ranging surveillance law gives government ministers the power to issue Technical Capability Notices (TCNs), which can force companies to modify their products.

A European Parliament committee wants end-to-end encryption to be enforced on all forms of digital communication to protect European Union (EU) citizens. A ban on "backdoors" into encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram is also being considered.