WhatsAPP could be banned from UK Prime Minister plans

Surveillance plans laid out by Prime Minister, David Cameron, may ban encrypted messaging services like Whatsapp.

By John Tomassetti
Monday, January 19, 2015

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In an attempt to combat active terrorism in the UK, if David Cameron wins next year’s election, messaging services that allow communication between parties that cannot be read by security services will be made illegal. The Prime Minister didn’t name any specific apps or services directly or how they would go about preventing citizens from downloading these apps, but he did mention that those with encrypted data would not meet the new legislative surveillance standards. This can easily include popular chat and social apps such as Whatsapp, iMessage, Skype, Google Hangouts, FaceTime and much more. Most of these companies are dedicated to encrypting their data, a practice that has increased since Edward Snowden’s unveiling of NSA surveillance. However, Cameron believes that this encryption poses as a major challenge to law enforcement services’ efforts against the growing threat of terrorism and other crimes in the UK.

David Cameron’s statements are following the waves of shootings in Paris that occurred last week allegedly by Islamic extremists. If authorities were able to gather more information regarding communications records or actual content, it would help thwart and investigate attacks. On the other hand, his comments have also come at a time where government surveillance and the loss of digital privacy has become a huge concern. Also, the same day that Prime Minister Cameron delivered his remarks, President Obama in the US has announced plans for new legislation to give Americans more control of their own data. He proposed a Consumer Privacy Bill Of Rights, allowing consumers to choose what parts of their personal data is collected by companies and how it will be used.

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