WWW inventor Tim Berners-Lee opposes encryption backdoors

[frogboy]

As the de-facto inventor of the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s opinions on things like online privacy and encryption backdoors should carry a lot more weight than those of most people.

Why encryption backdoors are a no-no
As he accepted this year’s A.M. Turing Award (aka the “Nobel Prize of Computing”), Berners-Lee noted that governments’ wish and intent to weaken encryption by forcing companies to create backdoors into the technology is a really bad idea.

“It’s not possible to build a system, which you can guarantee that only a definition of good guys can break,” he told Wired. “What you should do is you should build a system which will work in a world where there’s a government in power that you do not trust at all. Giving that sort of power to the government is inappropriate.”

Also, “if encryption were not a thing then huge amounts of modern life would be impossible,” he noted. “If you put a hole in encryption – if you decide WhatsApp shouldn’t be secure – then you do that to everything else that is equivalent to WhatsApp you’d have a battle in which you would have a huge number of disasters.”

These statements come in the wake of the terror attack on Westminster, the discovery that the attacker used WhatsApp before the attack (possibly to organize it), and the subsequent comment by UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who called for the police and intelligence agencies to be given access to encrypted messaging services in order to foil future attacks of this type.

Berners-Lee also said he is worried about the principle of net neutrality being under attack in the US, as the Trump administration is reportedly set on dismantling it, and he vowed to get involved in the fight to prevent this from happening.

Full Article. WWW inventor Tim Berners-Lee opposes encryption backdoors - Help Net Security

 

[Amelith Nargothrond]

This is such a great read. Thank you @frogboy for sharing and thank you Sir Tim Berners-Lee for still fighting for our rights regarding privacy!

 

[Handsome Recluse]

I hope free speech is still intact since it's the most powerful and the basis of which government works without hurting their citizens and doesn't seem to be too counterable.

 

[Entreri]

From a complete surveillance state to a police state. The US is becoming a police state, it was only a matter of time. The US is setting an example for rest of the "democracies".

I am watching CNN, they are trying to sell another war. These super greedy, incompetent capitalist will be the end of Rome, led by Bozo the Clown.

 

[In2an3_PpG]

Berners-Lee can fight all he wants and maybe it will change some decisions but for the most part i see this as being a lost cause.

These governments and agencies have in their mind what they want and most likely they will get it too.

It will be a monopoly effect. One after another will follow. My opinion anyway.

Thanks for sharing @frogboy

 

[Handsome Recluse]

That is the likely scenario but if this hurts businesses enough if the government goes too far, it will crash. Resetting everything so everything will be done again.

 

[Luke17]

Interesting article. Thank you for sharing, frogboy! I hope many more will follow Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s example.

 

[jamescv7]

Unfortunately the web is already an instrument to create huge revenues and manipulate information.

Privacy is somewhat could not voice by majority of masses because of lukewarm mentality, a people should have right to protect the information and identity regardless on what type of media.