British Prime Minister, David Cameron
(TheIndependent)
British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has revealed plans to block WhatsApp and Snapchat if he wins the next election, as part of his plans for new surveillance powers announced following the Paris shootings.
Cameron said this yesterday, January 12, 2015, stressing that he would he would put a stop to the use of methods of communication that cannot be read by the security services even if they have a warrant. This means that popular chat and social apps that encrypt their data, such as WhatsApp, may be affected.
Also, Apple's iMessage and FaceTime encrypt their data, and could fall under the ban along with other encrypted chat apps like Telegram.
The comments came as part of the Prime Minister's pledge to revive the "snoopers' charter" to help security services spy on internet communications.
He said: "In our country, do we want to allow a means of communication between people which […] we cannot read?" He made the connection between encrypted communications tools and letters and phone conversations, both of which can be read by security services in extreme situations and with a warrant from the home secretary.
However, companies such as WhatsApp have remained committed to keeping their services encrypted and unable to be read by authorities, a project which has stepped up in the wake of the Edward Snowden's revelations on NSA surveillance.
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