No fewer than 47 tech companies—including Apple, Microsoft, Google and WhatsApp—signed their names to an open letter last week urging the United Kingdom’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCH) not to move forward with a proposal that would allow the furtive addition of law enforcement participants to encrypted group chats or calls.
The concerns outlined in the letter will be familiar to anyone who has followed the ongoing efforts to find some kind of middle ground between privacy and the needs of law enforcement. Some believe, however, that the GCH’s proposal has the potential to create new threats while still invoking the same human rights concerns.
