US and UK sign deal to speed up electronic evidence collection from tech firms in serious criminal cases

The current process for receiving evidence can take years

The US and UK have signed a landmark agreement, enabling their respective law enforcement agencies to access data from technology companies more quickly in criminal investigations.

The pact was signed by UK Home Secretary Priti Patel and US Attorney General William Barr at a ceremony held at the residence of British ambassador in Washington, and revealed on Friday.

The deal would enable UK law enforcement agencies to directly contact US tech firms like Google, Twitter or Facebook, and receive electronic evidence in cases related to child sexual abuse, terrorism, and other serious crimes.

US authorities will also get access to British mobile carriers and other communication service providers.

Currently, officials have to go through government agencies in the other country to access such evidence, which is usually a very lengthy process that can take years, in some cases.

Under the new pact, it should take just a matter of just weeks or even days to collect the requested electronic evidence from companies based in the other country, according to the UK Home Office.

The agreement will come into effect following a six-month review period for the US Congress and a similar review period by the UK Parliament.

The agreement has been reached as part of the US CLOUD Act (Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act), which was passed by Congress in March 2018, authorising the government to sign bilateral agreements with other governments to access data stored overseas (for certain criminal investigations).

On Friday, an open letter from authorities in the US, UK and Australia called on Facebook not to implement end-to-end encryption on its messaging apps. They argued that such strong encryption reduces the ability of law enforcement agencies to protect the public.

The letter repeated calls for 'back doors' to be inserted into such messaging apps that would enable authorities to access such communications for law enforcement purporses.

However, adding such backdoors would also require companies like Facebook to U-turn on numerous encryption and privacy promises made to users.

"We strongly oppose government attempts to build backdoors because they would undermine the privacy and security of people everywhere," Facebook said in a statement.

"We believe in the right for people to have a private conversation online."

"End-to-end encryption helps protect that right and is fundamental to the value we provide to over a billion people every day," the company argued.