Governments around the world are demanding backdoors into encrypted data.
Earlier this year, the UK government’s backdoor requirement led Apple to withdraw its encrypted backup services from the country. In France, proposed “Narcotrafic” legislation would compromise encryption in an attempt to tackle drug trafficking.
While attacking encryption in the name of law enforcement is not a new trend, it is a dangerous one—one that could threaten the privacy, security, and personal information of millions of people. Unless governments understand the weight of what’s at stake, it is a trend we can only expect to see more of.
What Is an Encryption Backdoor?
An encryption backdoor is a type of exceptional access that a platform gives third parties—such as law enforcement and government officials—to the content of encrypted communications.
This can exist as a “middle box,” which decrypts the data at a central server, then re-crypts it and sends it to the intended recipient.
This is significantly less secure than end-to-end encryption, which services such as WhatsApp and Signal use.
If you send a message to a friend on WhatsApp, the message is encrypted on your device. It can then only be decrypted on your friend’s device using a unique key, ensuring that only you and your friend (not even WhatsApp!) can read the messages.
End-to-end encryption is the most secure kind of encryption that you can use.
Why Do Encryption Backdoors Create Security Problems?
Imagine you are going on vacation, and your friend comes over to water your plants. Instead of giving your friend the key to your house, making it accessible only to her, you leave it under a rock.
Your friend knows it’s there, but it’s not obvious to everyone. However, if someone knows you’re away, they can poke around, find the hidden key, and let themself in.
This is how encryption backdoors work. If someone knows that you are using a service with encryption backdoors, they may be able to exploit that and access your data.
While the intention was to make that backdoor accessible only to authorized groups (like law enforcement), in reality, this is almost never the case.
Once a vulnerability exists, communication is no longer secure. This is why creating backdoors weakens encryption for everyone.
Why Is This Harmful?
More and more governments are jumping on the bandwagon of demanding encryption backdoors. With these guidelines in place, fewer people can use end-to-end encrypted services, which we believe are crucial for protecting your data.
Additionally, even if end-to-end encrypted service providers are forced to build backdoors, malicious third parties will still be able to use unbreakable encryption.
While building and operating an encryption system may not necessarily be easy, it is possible. The mathematical theory behind encryption is public knowledge, and numerous open-source, readily available reference implementations of encryption algorithms exist.
If someone is determined enough, there are ways for them to get around backdoor orders. This means that governments would be compromising the privacy and security of millions of law-abiding citizens, with no guarantee that it would actually affect the criminals they claim to be targeting.
What Can You Do?
- Protect your personal data: Opt to use services and devices with end-to-end encryption as a standard feature.
- Write your officials: If you are in the UK, let your elected officials know that you oppose the recent backdoor order. Send a letter here.
- Vote in favor of security: Use your vote to support government officials and policies that support end-to-end encryption and other important privacy measures.
The Bottom Line
Encryption is a powerful tool for protecting sensitive personal information, and we believe it should be available to everyone.
Encryption protects financial transactions and banking information. It protects the personal safety of marginalized groups. It protects our sensitive medical information. It protects electricity grids.
We all want to stop criminals, but action must be taken without compromising the security that we all rely on to keep data safe online. Backdoors create a major vulnerability that isn’t worth the risk. Explore encryption resources.
Image © Lan Gao on Unsplash