Privacy in the UK

For what feels like the millionth time in the last 15 years, uk.gov is attempting to either legislate against mathematics itself with encryption “back doors”, or simply make our use of private communication illegal. As ever, their weapon of choice is the promotion of hysteria in the population and the tabloid press platformed on a rhetoric of terrorism and child exploitation. Today, their random spin machine has selected: “make it illegal” and “won’t somebody think of the children?” (ORG has the story)

It’s easy to point out the stupidity and ignorance in their arguments, but those are so obvious that this is manifestly not their endgame. Terrorists and abusers are exactly the kind of groups that would simply not comply with the laws they seek to pass and who would just use encryption technology from sources not constrained by their ludicrous legislation. Joe Public on the other hand (a MUCH larger and juicier prize to go after) will of course, in the main, comply. And yet again we will be the only ones adversely affected by supporting or permitting this kind of action because of a failure to protest it.

Please promote, join or donate to organisations like ORG, GoodLawProject, Privacy International and others who work to curtail the phenomenal personal privacy abuses that our own governments - of all colours - consistently try to own and control us with.