Element users are asking for protection against government encryption busting Element, one of the companies behind decentralized comms platform Matrix, says customers are asking it to insert a protective clause from the encryption-busting element of UK government's Online Safety Bill (OSB). Customers include the US Department of Defense. The Houses of Parliament passed the OSB last month, paving the …
If we as civilians have nothing to worry about, neither should government entities right? And think of the children! What if they are using those secure channels to distribute CSAM? We want to catch the bad apples! And the legitimate messages cannot be exposed anyway, so no national security issues! Requests will always be "proportionate and necessary"!
It's hypocisy when one branch of the goverment is pushing the encyrption-busting OSB clauses in the face of overwhelming opposition and the fact that it's utterly impossible to do it the way they want it, while another branch of that same government uses the very tools that will be subject to those encyrption-busting OSB clauses, and will no doubt demand to be granted an exemption.
Gross hypocrisy, at that. Also: gross supidity, gross incompetence.
It is nonsense to suggest that a contractual clause will override a statutory right by government to insist on seeing the decrypt. But the point at issue is how the government can demand the key that was used for a standard encryption algorithm. If the key is provided by the comms company, the government can demand that they provide it, or drive them out of business if they do not. If the key is provided by the customer, it depends. The government cannot compel another state, or the United Nations, to cough up the key.
I don't think the clause will ever be activated because it will mean communications service providers will leave the UK behind.
But it is an unacceptable time bomb for users of paid encrypted communications services so I can understand they want assurances or at least notification when it's being activated.
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