US, UK and Australia demand that Facebook stop plan to introduce end-to-end encryption for WhatsApp

End-to-end encryption will 'hinder or prevent' serious criminal investigations, authorities claims

Politicians across three of the so-called ‘five eyes' alliance have written to Facebook to demand that it stop development of end-to-end encryption in its messaging services - until it can reassure authorities that the privacy measure won't undermine action against terrorists and the spread of images of child abuse.

The open letter will be published later today, coinciding with the announcement of a new data-sharing agreement between law enforcement agencies in the US and UK.

Companies should not deliberately design their systems to preclude any form of access to content, even for preventing or investigating the most serious crimes

Signed by Home Secretary Priti Patel, US Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan and Australia's Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton, the letter claims that the introduction of end-to-end encryption across WhatsApp and Facebook's other messaging services will undermine law enforcement agencies' ability to tackle serious crime.

The letter has been obtained by Buzzfeed ahead of its publication. It follows on from complaints that the shift to DNS over HTTPS will make it harder for ISPs to block images of child abuse.

"Security enhancements to the virtual world should not make us more vulnerable in the physical world," the letter claims. "Companies should not deliberately design their systems to preclude any form of access to content, even for preventing or investigating the most serious crimes."

The letter calls on Facebook to "prioritise public safety" by designing the system so that law enforcement agencies - presumably only in the UK, US and Australia - can also access encrypted messages.

However, the letter also acknowledges that Facebook already successfully intercepts 99 per cent of the images of child abuse and terrorist-related content hosted or communicated on its platform. Furthermore, one of the features of Facebook's messaging services is the ability to report potentially illegal messages and images.

Use of end-to-end encryption, which allows messages to be decrypted only by end users, leaves service providers unable to produce readable content in response to wiretap orders

The letter continues: "Risks to public safety from Facebook's proposals are exacerbated in the context of a single platform that would combine inaccessible messaging services with open profiles, providing unique routes for prospective offenders to identify and groom our children."

The US Department of Justice also revealed some details of the letter in a press release issued late last night.

"Addressed to Facebook's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, the letter requests that Facebook not proceed with its end-to-end encryption plan without ensuring there will be no reduction in the safety of Facebook users and others, and without providing law enforcement court-authorised access to the content of communications to protect the public, particularly child users," it explains.

It added that Facebook's plans would "put at risk its own vital work that keeps children safe", noting that the company made 16.8 million reports to authorities of images of child sex abuse and other abusive content in 2018 alone. End-to-end encryption would undermine that. The letter, it added, would be released as part of the US Department of Justice's Lawful Access Summit today.

It continued: "Use of end-to-end encryption, which allows messages to be decrypted only by end users, leaves service providers unable to produce readable content in response to wiretap orders and search warrants.

"This barrier allows criminals to avoid apprehension by law enforcement by limiting access to crucial evidence in the form of encrypted digital communications. The use of end-to-end encryption and other highly sophisticated encryption technologies significantly hinders, or entirely prevents serious criminal and national security investigations."