UK Child Welfare Agency's Anti-Encryption 'Research' Ignored Everything It Didn't Want To Hear

UK Child Welfare Agency's Anti-Encryption 'Research' Ignored Everything It Didn't Want To Hear

3 years ago
Anonymous $f-b3Pf4iLZ

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20210423/10502446667/uk-child-welfare-agencys-anti-encryption-research-ignored-everything-it-didnt-want-to-hear.shtml

In late March, the UK's National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) started injecting its anti-encryption views into the major papers via some press releases and statements claiming encryption was the "biggest threat to children online." It also claimed its stance was supported by a soon-to-be-released report, which had gathered opinions and analysis from a number of stakeholders.

Its report debuted a few weeks later. Put together with the assistance of PA Consulting, the supposedly "balanced" report came to the conclusion the NSPCC arrived at earlier: end-to-end encryption is bad. That this wasn't greeted with gasps of shock by readers and receptive journalists shows just how much the UK government's disdain for encryption has gone mainstream. The NSPCC wasn't saying anything new about encryption. It was simply saying what the UK government has been saying for years: it doesn't care for encryption because it believes encryption aids criminals far more often than it protects innocent people, including the children the NSPCC claims to be so worried about.