GETTY • WHATSAPP Home Secretary Amber Rudd has said “real people” aren’t bothered about encryption

The Government should be able to read people's text messages, Amber Rudd has claimed. The Home Secretary has argued the UK Government should be able to – on occasion – break security features that keep messages hidden from everyone except the intended recipient. WhatsApp, iMessage and Telegram all use end-to-end encryption to keep text messages, photos, videos, documents, and more, hidden from Governments and hackers. End-to-end encryption means your message is scrambled before it is sent – and only the sender and recipient have access to the special key needed to unlock the scrambled data. For additional protection, each message, video, photo you send has its own unique lock and key. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Amber Rudd said “real people” do not need such high levels of security, which she claims can hinder security services in their attempts to detect terrorist plots.

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Terrorists are using messaging apps to plan and co-ordinate attacks, she adds.

It is not the Home Secretary’s place to tell the public that they do not need end-to-end encryption Jim Killock, Open Rights Group

The Government supports the use of strong encryption and does not want to outlaw end-to-end encryption, Ms Rudd has clarified. However, the Home Secretary believes the UK Government should have a way to read specific conversations – a plan that most cybersecurity experts say is completely unworkable. Amber Rudd went on to say “real people” were not interested in the security features that prevented their messages from being read. "Real people often prefer ease of use and a multitude of features to perfect, unbreakable security. So this is not about asking the companies to break encryption and create so called 'back doors'," she wrote in the her Telegraph article. Digital rights activists The Open Rights Group branded Ms Rudd's comments "dangerous".

GETTY Amber Rudd has addressed end-to-end encryption in apps like WhatsApp

Open Rights Group Executive Director Jim Killock said: “The suggestion that real people do not care about the security of their communications is dangerous and misleading. "Some people want privacy from corporations, abusive partners or employers. Others may be worried about confidential information, or be working in countries with a record of human rights abuses. “It is not the Home Secretary’s place to tell the public that they do not need end-to-end encryption. "Amber Rudd must be absolutely clear on what co-operation she expects from Internet companies.

“She is causing immense confusion because at the moment she sounds like she is asking for the impossible. "She must give the public a good idea of the risks she wants to place them under.” Policy officer at Liberty, Silkie Carlo has also criticised the comments from the Home Secretary. The technology and surveillance expert said: "Real people don't want to be hacked. "Real people care about their privacy, they care about their civil liberties."

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Back in 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook warned against the Conservative Government’s plans to require a backdoor into end-to-end encrypted apps. Mr Cook has warned the UK that any attempt to weaken encryption could have "very dire consequences", harming consumers by making their data less secure. "Any back door is a back door for everyone," Apple CEO Mr Cook said. "Everybody wants to crack down on terrorists. Everybody wants to be secure. The question is how. Opening a back door can have very dire consequences." "We don't think people want us to read their messages. We don't feel we have the right to read their emails," Mr Cook added. "To protect people who use any products, you have to encrypt. You can just look around and see all the data breaches that are going on."