WASHINGTON: The US government on Friday urged tech giants to allow policeto read encrypted messages, saying access was essential to prevent seriouscrime despite privacy concerns.
After Facebook rejected giving access to law enforcement agencies, USAttorney General William Barr upped the pressure by issuing anindustry-wide call.
“Making our virtual world more secure should not come at the expense ofmaking us more vulnerable in the real world,” Barr said in a speech inWashington.
Barr dismissed accusations that the government was seeking a “backdoor” toeveryone’s private social media messages.
“We are seeking a front door. We would be happy if the companies providingthe encryption keep the keys,” he said.
Tech giants must abandon “the indefensible posture” that a technicalsolution was not possible and should develop products to balancecybersecurity with public safety, Barr said.
Read Top Stories
Facebook already encrypts WhatsApp messages from end-to-end meaning onlythe sender and recipient can read them —and is working to extend thetechnology to other apps in its group, including Messenger and Instagram.
Facebook said it was intent on introducing the feature without grantingoversight to law enforcement agencies.
“We hope that industry will be an ally, not an adversary,” Barr said.-APP/AFP
