CDT Joins Global Encryption Coalition Letter on UK Government’s Use of Investigatory Powers Act to attack End-to-End Encryption
Today, CDT and a group of over 100 civil society organizations, companies, and cybersecurity experts – as part of an effort led by the Global Encryption Coalition (GEC) – submitted a letter to British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper calling on the UK Home Office to rescind its demand that Apple create a backdoor into its end-to-end encrypted services.
The UK demand is an alarming effort to undermine encryption, and if carried out would endanger the privacy and security of hundreds of millions of individuals who use Apple products across the globe.
As encryption advocates have demonstrated for decades, creating any backdoor access to encrypted systems for law enforcement will also make those systems vulnerable to cybercriminals, foreign espionage, and other bad actors.
The ongoing damage of the Salt Typhoon hack shows how severe the risks of leaving communications and data systems vulnerable can be, and why encryption is so vital. Now more than ever we need to be championing strong encryption, not tearing it down. The UK’s short-sighted effort will make its citizens less safe and more vulnerable to having their most sensitive data and intimate conversations stolen and snooped on. We hope the UK Home Office will heed the warning of experts and reconsider this decision.
This letter was published on Thursday, February 13, 2025 with 109 signatures. More signatures may be added as they come in, and will be noted at a future date.
Read the full letter – and list of signatories – on the GEC’s website.
