Encryption: INCLO members oppose backdoor access

Rather than complying with the government order to give authorities access to the encrypted data, Apple has disabled its strongest data security tool for its UK customers. In a statement, Apple said: “We have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services and we never will.”

These developments highlight a global concern: when governments pressure tech companies to weaken encryption, they compromise not just the privacy of their citizens but also the overall security of digital communications.

Any government request to weaken encryption essentially pierces the shield of security that encryption provides, creating pathways for access that encryption would otherwise safeguard against.

Demands to limit privacy-enhancing technologies are not new, which is why we must persist in opposing government efforts that ultimately aim at “targeting the technology rather than the individuals exploiting them”.

Since 2020 INCLO members have been calling on states to defend end-to-end encryption (E2EE). This system enables the full enjoyment of fundamental rights online, including the rights to freedom of expression and privacy. It is vital to protect the privacy and security of not only citizens but also governments around the world. Encryption is not just an essential tool that we use to safeguard our texts, emails, voice calls and social media. It also protects and secures the processing of our data when it comes to sensitive activities such as personal banking, online transactions, and confidential personal information.

When considering state requests for “backdoors” into secure communications, the real issue is not simply balancing the tension between individual and collective freedoms, privacy, and expressive rights against state security, but rather ensuring the collective security of every user of the internet in proportionate balance with state interests in national security. Experts have warned that backdoor access “poses far more grave security risks, imperils innovation, and raises thorny issues for human rights and international relations.” Weakening encryption would have a great impact on vulnerable populations already at risk of harm or already being persecuted. This population is not limited to journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders, activists, and civil society organizations. Weakened encryption can also be used as a tool of political oppression. Additionally, attempts to weaken encryption serve to restrict the civic space and represent a significant anti-democratic threat.

With an increased digital presence around the world, it is important to ensure that the foundation of trust which sustains society and social interaction is maintained. The weakening of E2EE can hamper internet connectivity. Pervasive surveillance should have no place in our society and the call for privacy must not be limited merely to the concept of secrecy. 

Many of our online activities involve sharing highly sensitive information that is safeguarded by robust encryption. Any attempt to weaken this encryption, regardless of the intentions behind it, would compromise the security of these activities, raise the risk of malicious third parties accessing the data, fuel concerns about fraud and identity theft, and likely erode trust.

INCLO members, together with other civil society organizations, urge authorities to prioritize the protection of E2EE and safeguard the privacy and countless daily security benefits that encryption provides to people worldwide.

INCLO is a network of 15 independent, national human rights organizations. Learn more at inclo.net 

Endorsing members:

• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU- USA)
• Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA- Canada)
• Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS- Argentina)
• Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR- Egypt)
• Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU- Hungary)
• Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL- Ireland)
• Kenyan Human Rights Commission (KHRC- Kenya)
• KontraS (Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence- Indonesia)
• Legal Resources Centre (LRC- South Africa)
• Liberty (UK)