Is end-to-end encryption still guaranteed in the UK?

The UK government has taken the decision not to make life difficult for technology companies and defenders of privacy in passing its controversial Online Safety Bill: the telecoms regulator, Ofcom, will only require companies to scan their networks for evidence of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) when the technology to do so has been developed.

Most cybersecurity experts believe it could still be many years before this will happen, if it ever does. By that time, the chances are that encryption systems will be sufficiently robust to withstand scrutiny. Addressing the House of Lords, Lord Stephen Parkinson said:

A notice can only be issued where technically feasible and where technology has been accredited as meeting minimum standards of accuracy in detecting only child sexual abuse and exploitation content

The Online Safety Bill dates back several years, and is one of the toughest attempts by any government to hold large tech companies accountable for content shared over their networks. Several of them threatened to leave the UK market in whole or part if the law was passed in its original form. Meta said it would withdraw WhatsApp, with Apple doing the same for iMessage…