Obama, Cameron to discuss encryption of online services

British Prime Minister David Cameron, in Washington to meet with President Obama, is expected to raise the issue of widening government access to data from U.S. Internet companies a sensitive subject on both sides of the Atlantic in the aftermath of the attacks in Paris.

Last weeks attacks have renewed European concerns that intelligence officials lack the authority to obtain the communications of terrorism suspects who use encrypted online services. On Monday, Cameron suggested he would consider banning American messaging services like Snapchat or WhatsApp if intelligence agencies were not provided with the authority to intercept communications.

But in Britain, as in the United States, such calls have revived the debate over the proper scope of government surveillance and how to balance security interests against privacy concerns.

The prime ministers point is that we have to find a way of closing down the space where terrorists operate on the Internet, said one British official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record. Hes asking, How do we work with tech companies to make this work?

We did this with child abuse and child pornography, added the official. When it comes to terrorism, we are not where we need to be.

Technology companies, however, are still smarting from revelations about U.S. and British surveillance from former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. Seeking to restore consumer confidence, they have increasingly begun to encrypt communications and data stored on mobile devices.

That, in turn, has alarmed law enforcement and intelligence officials, who say the encryption prevents them from gaining access to suspects data even when they have court orders.

Although U.S. law enforcement officials, including FBI Director James B. Comey, have sharply criticized technology companies for developing new forms of encryption, Obama who unveiled a series of surveillance reforms a year ago this week has said little about the issue.

Cameron, by contrast, has been forceful in his arguments in favor of widening government authorities access to communications data, telling Parliament: If we want the police and the security services to protect the public and save lives, they need this capability.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Obama and Cameron will probably talk about cybersecurity during the prime ministers visit, but he declined to say whether the president shared Camerons concerns about the need for broader government access to online communications.

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Obama, Cameron to discuss encryption of online services