Sir Andrew Parker, director general of UK security agency MI5, wants tech companies to find a way to provide “exceptional access” for spies to encrypted communications.

As reported by The Guardian, Parker says that it's “increasingly mystifying” that intelligence agencies cannot read the messages of potentially nefarious individuals, and that cyberspace has become “a wild west, unregulated, inaccessible to authorities.” Parker wants tech firms “on an exceptional basis" and "where there is a legal warrant and a compelling case to do it," to allow access to content.

While Parker did not mention any companies by name, The Guardian reports that security services are the most concerned about Facebook, which operates WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger, three of the most popular messaging platforms. There are plans in place for the infrastructure of these services to be integrated, meaning law enforcement would not have access to those messages.

In a statement, a spokesperson for technology human rights group Privacy International said, “the reality is that these big tech platforms are international companies: providing access to UK police would mean establishing a precedent that police around the world could use to compel the platforms to monitor activists and opposition, from Hong Kong to Honduras.”

MI5's opinion seems to be mirrored in the US. Attorney General William Barr has voiced similar opinions, as did his predecessor, Loretta Lynch, FBI Director Christopher Wray and his predecessor, James Comey. But critics argue that providing a backdoor into encrypted services makes them vulnerable to bad actors. As PCMag’s Max Eddy argues, “when you add a backdoors and secret master keys to encryption, you build in weaknesses. You make what's predictable and verifiable subject to human whims.”

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