PGP inventor rubbishes Tory plans to ban encryption and says modern commerce depends on it: ‘End-to-end encryption is everywhere now’

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

David Cameron’s proposals to limit the use of end-to-end encryption technology in the UK are “absurd” according to Phil Zimmermann, creator of the email encryption software, PGP, and now president of secure communications firm Silent Circle.

Zimmermann also says intelligence agencies have “never had it so good” and are living in “a golden age of surveillance” in comments highly critical of the prime minister’s call for more powers.

PGP creator Phil Zimmermann: 'Intelligence agencies have never had it so good' Read more

In a January speech, Cameron announced plans for new anti-terror laws, including plans to crack down on anti-surveillance techniques: “Are we going to allow a means of communications where it simply is not possible to do that? My answer to that question is: no, we must not,” he said.

In an interview with the Guardian, Zimmermann suggested that any such proposals would be unworkable, given the reliance on encryption by a range of online businesses in 2015.

“It’s absurd. We fought the crypto wars in the 1990s, and that matter has been settled. End-to-end encryption is everywhere now: in browsers, online banking. If you have strong encryption between your web browser and your bank, you can’t have a man-in-the-middle from the government wiretapping that,” he said.

Zimmermann noted a shift in cultural beliefs since the 1990s, when people using strong encryption technology would often have to defend themselves from accusations of being terrorists or drug dealers.

“Now, if you aren’t using strong encryption, you have to justify it,” he said. “You’re a doctor? Whaddya mean you’re not encrypting your patient records? Or you left your company laptop in a taxi with 2,000 customer names on it? You better hope that data is encrypted, or you’re in trouble.”

Zimmermann added that the UK’s stricter laws around online security breaches have made encryption essential for many companies – “David Cameron can’t reverse that” – while giving short shrift to the arguments of politicians and security agencies that strong encryption is a boon for modern terrorists.

“The intelligence agencies are living in a golden age of surveillance. They’ve never had it so good! Their life is so cushy now compared to a couple of decades ago. They now have total information,” he said.

“They can see everything: they’ve got face recognition algorithms looking through cameras on the streets, optical recognition cameras at bridges, tunnels and traffic lights. They can track movements, transactions, who’s having lunch with who, who’s sleeping with who. They can see everything!”

Zimmermann adds: “To complain that end-to-end encryption is crippling them? It’s like having a couple of missing pixels in a large display. They have the rest of the display! They’ve never had it so good. They didn’t have this stuff 20 years ago.”

The full interview can be read here.