CDT Joins Global Encryption Coalition Letter on UK Government’s Use of Investigatory Powers Act to attack End-to-End Encryption
Logo of the Global Encryption Coalition (GEC). Black text on a white background, with multi-colored squares (dark orange, dark yellow, dark blue, and light blue / green) forming a + symbol.
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.
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.
Responding to the EU-US Negotiations on Reciprocal Data Exchanges for Border Procedures
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Open Joint Letter on a Public Reassessment of the EU-US Adequacy Decision
On 29 June, the US Supreme Court ruled that US President Trump can remove the leaders of independent agencies and commissions, overturning nearly 90 years of precedent limiting executive power. This decision raises serious questions about one of the key safeguards underpinning the EU-US Data Privacy Framework adopted in 2023: independent supervision.
Return of Mass Scanning of Private Communications through Undemocratic Procedure
CDT Europe responds to the European Parliament's vote to revive the interim derogation from the ePrivacy Directive, commonly known as “Chat Control 1.0”, which provides the legal basis for the voluntary, indiscriminate scanning of private communications for known and new Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), and for the solicitation of children.
