UK government could ban encrypted communications with new surveillance powers

[Jaysyn]

UK government could ban encrypted communications with new surveillance powers

Britain’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, is calling for new surveillance powers[...]. Speaking at a public event in the UK this morning, Cameron outlined the government’s stance on secure communications that can’t be read by police or government agencies. "In our country, do we want to allow a means of communication between people which […] we cannot read?" he asked, comparing letters and phone conversations to encrypted communications used online, adding that "we must not" allow a means of communication where individuals can communicate in secret over the internet.

Cameron defended the call for additional intrusive powers. "We have a better system for safe guarding this very intrusive power than probably any other country I can think of," he said, noting that the monitoring doesn’t take place unless the Home Secretary "personally signs a warrant."

Cameron’s comments also follow similar calls from Mayor of London Boris Johnson over the weekend. "I'm not particularly interested in this civil liberties stuff when it comes to these people's emails and mobile phone conversations,"

in
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/12/753306...encryption


So.... any half wit hacker could snoop into other people's private conversations, huh?... Somehow, I see this as a very bad move.

Once again, the opportunistic parasites in the UK show that they fail at basic technology. I can't see how they are going to effectively ban math (encryption) or the custom applications that will make use of it.