Top UK official: ‘Real people’ don’t care about encryption – The Hill

United Kingdom Home Secretary Amber Rudd claimed "real people" do not considersecurity to be a selling point when picking smartphonechat applications.

"Who uses WhatsApp because it is end-to-end encrypted, rather than because it is an incredibly user-friendly and cheap way to keep in touch with friends and family?" Rudd wrote in an editorialabout encryptionin the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday.

Rudd, like leaders in Germany and France, as well as some politicians in America, is concerned about "end-to-end" encryption encryption that cannot be broken while data is in transit because there is no way for law enforcement to intercept such communications, even with a warrant.

In the editorial, she said she had traveled to Silicon Valley to discuss the issue with tech firms.

Many of the top chat apps on the market incorporate end-to-end encryption. An Amnesty International report of 16 globally popular chat apps found that more than half used or permitted end-to-end encryption, including Telegram, Apple Chat, Facebook Messenger, Viber and Line.

Over the weekend, Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) accused European nations ofunfairly criticizing the United States forbeing weak on privacy while European Unionmemberspursued their own policies to limit encryption.

Read the rest here:
Top UK official: 'Real people' don't care about encryption - The Hill