“Apple, Google, Microsoft and WhatsApp have co-signed an open letter urging the UK government to abandon what’s being called a ‘ghost protocol’ to allow intelligence services to read encrypted messages,” William Gallagher writes for AppleInsider.
“GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) had proposed that services should automatically and secretly copy all messages from every user to law enforcement,” Gallagher writes. “GCHQ’s Ian Levy and Crispin Robinson proposed this system in a paper in November 2018 that laid out principles for how ‘service providers’ could implement it. ‘It’s relatively easy for a service provider to silently add a law enforcement participant to a group chat or call,’ they wrote. ‘You end up with everything still being end-to-end encrypted, but there’s an extra ‘end’ on this particular communication.'”
“The open letter, originally sent to GCHQ on May 22, describes this approach as adding a ‘ghost’ to every message and decries what it calls this ‘ghost protocol,’ saying it would introduce ‘significant additional security threats,'” Gallagher writes. “‘The GCHQ’s ghost proposal creates serious threats to digital security,'” says the letter’s writers. ‘Users would no longer be able to trust that they know who is on the other end of their communications, thereby posing threats to fundamental human rights, including privacy and free expression.'”
Read more in the full article here.
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blockquote>MacDailyNews Take: UFB. The idiots making these proposals aren’t just stupid, they’re nuts, and must be strongly and consistently opposed.
Coalition Letter to GCHQ on… by on Scribd
/blockquote>
A resounding YES! to MDN.
Look what happened when our government developed software that would get into our encrypted information. It didn’t take long before it got out into the wild and now cities like Baltimore are being held hostage for ransom. I do not trust my government or others to keep my private data private.
If this comes to pass, what’s next – the government decides to open and photocopy every letter that goes through the post office?
Let’s not give them any ideas.