The British government is apparently about to start requiring the handover of private encryption keys…

Why? Well because only terrorists and pedophiles use encryption, of course

Some security experts are concerned that the plan could criminalise innocent people and drive businesses out of the UK. But the Home Office, which has just launched a consultation process, says the powers contained in Part 3 are needed to combat an increased use of encryption by criminals, paedophiles, and terrorists.

“The use of encryption is… proliferating,” Liam Byrne, Home Office minister of state told Parliament last week. “Encryption products are more widely available and are integrated as security features in standard operating systems, so the Government has concluded that it is now right to implement the provisions of Part 3 of RIPA… which is not presently in force.”

Part 3 of RIPA gives the police powers to order the disclosure of encryption keys, or force suspects to decrypt encrypted data.

Anyone who refuses to hand over a key to the police would face up to two years’ imprisonment. Under current anti-terrorism legislation, terrorist suspects now face up to five years for withholding keys.

If Part 3 is passed, financial institutions could be compelled to give up the encryption keys they use for banking transactions, experts have warned.

“The controversy here [lies in] seizing keys, not in forcing people to decrypt. The power to seize encryption keys is spooking big business,” Cambridge University security expert Richard Clayton told ZDNet UK on Wednesday.

“The notion that international bankers would be wary of bringing master keys into UK if they could be seized as part of legitimate police operations, or by a corrupt chief constable, has quite a lot of traction,” Clayton added. “With the appropriate paperwork, keys can be seized. If you’re an international banker you’ll plonk your headquarters in Zurich.”

So you won’t be able to have legal encryption in the UK without handing over your private key to the government, effectively rendering your private encrypted data unprivate.

I imagine a big yawn from the “if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear” crowd.

Technorati Tags: encryption

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 28th, 2006 at 3:48 pm and is filed under Scary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.