Following the almost unbelievable events in France over the past week, UK Prime Minister David Cameron is now looking to ban encrypted messaging services such as WhatsApp, iMessage and CryptoChat unless the service providers behind these highly popular products provide access to all encrypted data to the intelligence and security agencies within the UK Government.
Currently, the Prime Minister has not actually named which services he would like to access but it does mean that the likes of Apple, Facebook and many other businesses will have to open up their services for investigation by the UK Government if they want to stay in business.
But how many people are going to want to use these services, if they are no longer considered secure?
The Benefits of Encryption
Just like the services that EasyHide-VPN offer, encrypted messaging systems provide the opportunity for people to communicate in confidence, knowing that their messages cannot be accessed by a third party.
This not only gives a much greater level of privacy to the users but it also ensures that information sent over this system remains secure.
Yes we understand that the easier it is for terrorists to communicate without being detected, the greater the likelihood is that they will be able to carry out further atrocities in the future. But this doesn’t mean that everyone should be tarred with the same brush and lose their right to privacy just because of the extreme actions of a few.
And while the Prime Minister states that there will always be the need for a warrant issued by the Home Secretary, providing the Government with back door access into such services which offer a greater level of power for the so called ‘Nanny State’, but it also has to be said that if the Government can get in, there will also be a way for other, not so welcome visitors, to gain access.
Only this week, Edward Snowden has revealed that even Skype has a back door, offering access to what we all thought was a completely secure service. And you can just imagine how many unsavory characters are now trying to find out just where that entry point is.
Many people choose to use encryption to maintain their confidentiality because they simply don’t want the world to know every single thing they are doing or thinking about. That doesn’t mean they are going to be planning something untoward, rather that they don’t want Big Brother reading every thought in their minds.
The Way of the Future
David Cameron has stated that if he does retain his position as Prime Minister after the next election, the sending of data ‘which it simply isn’t possible to read’ will be one area he will be looking at. And where the UK government leads, other world governments such as the US will surely follow?
But we say, the right to privacy is a fundamental right for every individual, which is why we offer a service enabling users to hide IPs and protect their data. It is going to be interesting to see how this one plays out.