Interview: Meredith Whittaker warns new law would allow regulators to read private messages at will
Officialdom cannot be trusted to protect privacy online, the boss of messaging app Signal has warned, amid fears that a new bill will hand unprecedented snooping powers to Whitehall.
Meredith Whittaker warned that the Online Safety Bill, which is about to go though its final stage in Parliament, will give TV and tech industry regulators power to read people’s private messages at will.
“It will be a perilous move for the UK”, she said. “We cannot continue to offer a truly private communication service and undermine or adulterate our encryption.”
Whittaker is leading the US-dominated tech industry’s final drive to head off the new rules. Her views are shared by the likes of WhatsApp, which has pledged to leave the UK if the Online Safety Bill becomes law in its current form.