Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo tell the UK Government that encryption is a fundamental security tool

Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo have sent a joint submission to the UK Government with regard to the proposed legislative measures that would allow the Government to impose various obligations on ‘relevant operators’ (demanding backdoors into encrypted software and products, accessing communication data, etc.). The companies point out that that ‘encryption is a fundamental security tool, important to the security of the digital economy as well as crucial to ensuring the safety of web users worldwide’. While the proposed legislation would also make a criminal offense for anyone to reveal the existence of backdoor, the five companies express their support for users’ rights to be informed about such cases, noting that ‘It is important both in terms of transparency, as well as affording users the right to protect their own legal rights’. Update: UK Privacy watchdog says encryption ‘vital’, thus joining Internet corporations to fight the so-called ‘snooper’s charter’.