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Police should have cyber 'key' to unlock encrypted messages, senior officer says

Chief Constable Simon Bailey giving evidence at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse - IICSA
Chief Constable Simon Bailey giving evidence at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse - IICSA

Police should be given a cyber ‘key’ to unlock encrypted messages in ‘exception circumstances’ such as child abuse and terrorism, one of Britain’s most senior police officers has said.

Chief Constable Simon Bailey told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IISCA) yesterday he wanted tech giants to build a back door into apps, which he said were making it “so much harder” to catch paedophiles.

Mr Bailey, the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) lead on child protection, said he felt the public would not oppose such a feature if they knew it was aimed at people sharing indecent images.

Messaging apps such as Facebook’s WhatsApp and Apple’s iMessage have end-to-end encryption meaning that even the companies cannot see the contents.

Mr Bailey said: “There needs to be with these (tech) companies some form of key that would afford access and it’s a very clear understanding for all customers that that key to break the privacy would only be used in exceptional circumstances.

“The list would be countering terrorism, dealing with indecent imagery and sexual abuse of a child.”

Giving evidence to IISCA last week, Melissa Polinsky, a senior security executive for Apple, said the company saw encryption as “a fundamental right for customers” to protect their sensitive data such as bank details and personal photos.

She also argued that any exception built into message encryption would soon be exploited by hackers.

Asked how he saw police balancing their need for an encryption key with such privacy concerns, Mr Bailey added: “If I know someone is abusing a child or sharing abusive imagery then you surely give up your right to privacy.”

Mr Bailey’s comments come as tech giants are increasingly moving towards encrypted services. Last month Facebook announced it was shifting its focus to become a ‘privacy focused’ social network, with plans to encrypt its more than one-billion-user Messenger service.

In his testimony, Mr Bailey welcomed the Government’s plan to introduce a statutory duty of care on tech companies, which will place a legal obligation on them to protect users from harm.

He also described as “absolutely right” proposals to make senior executives at social media companies personally liable for breaches, saying they had failed to make their sites a “hostile environment” for child abusers.

“It is a sad day that the safeguarding and the stopping of sexual abuse of children has come down to the fact that these companies cannot do it for themselves and legislation needs to be put in place,” added Mr Bailey.