The British Public Reject State Access to Private Online Conversations
The UK government and its regulators are steadily expanding state surveillance over private, encrypted communications. This has come primarily through secret Technical Capability Notices issued under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 — the law widely known as the “Snoopers’ Charter” — which can compel technology companies to build and maintain the capability for the government to access their users’ communications, and which by default prohibit companies from disclosing that they received such a notice. Proponents of these powers have suggested that they are necessary to investigate serious crime and that they enjoy broad public support.
To assess the public’s attitudes, CDT commissioned Public First, a UK-based polling firm, to survey British public opinion on encryption and government surveillance. The results tell a compelling story. Across the board, the polling data consistently and often overwhelmingly demonstrate public pushback against expanding surveillance frameworks that threaten to infringe upon encrypted communications. Far from reflecting a public appetite for secretive monitoring, the results suggest that the British public have deep reservations about state access to their private conversations. Most critically:
The British public overwhelmingly believe they have the right to private conversations online and that no one should be able to access their personal messages without a court order and user notice.
The majority of the British public oppose or want meaningful constraints on surveillance powers like Technical Capability Notices.
The majority of the British public believe the security risks outweigh the benefits of allowing law enforcement to access encrypted messages.
Overwhelming majorities of the British public are concerned that allowing law enforcement to access encrypted messages could discourage free speech or open communication or undermine personal privacy.
Many of the British public will change how they express themselves online if law enforcement has access to their encrypted messages, such as by self-censoring or deleting their social media accounts.
The vast majority of the British public believe there are better ways to tackle serious crimes than accessing encrypted messages.
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British Public Oppose Secret Surveillance Powers and Want Strong Protections for Encrypted Communications
CDT released nationally representative polling data revealing that a the British public are broadly concerned about the security, privacy, and free speech consequences of allowing law enforcement to access encrypted communications.
