"The privacy of electronic communications will face new risks in 2026, as the UK and other governments push for greater capabilities to harvest and analyse more data on private citizens, and to make it harder to protect communications with end-to-end encryption. Over the next 12 months we can expect more pressure from the UK and Europe to restrict the unencumbered use of end-to-end encrypted email and messaging services such as Signal, WhatsApp and many others."
"In the 1990s, the US government tried and ultimately failed to persuade telecommunications companies to install a device known as the Clipper chip to provide the US National Security Agency (NSA) with "backdoor" access to voice and data communications. The Crypto wars of 2026 are more subtle, with controls and restrictions on encryption pushed by governments, law enforcement agencies and intelligence services as a means of detecting child sexual abuse and terrorist material being promulgated through encrypted email and messaging systems."
Governments including the UK and EU will increase pressure in 2026 to limit unencumbered use of end-to-end encrypted email and messaging services. Authorities propose voluntary or compulsory scanning of private communications and age verification measures to detect child sexual abuse and terrorist material before messages are encrypted. The European Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (CSAR), nicknamed Chat Control, is expected to be adopted in Spring 2026. Cryptographers and computer scientists warn that client-side scanning and backdoor-like measures will create security vulnerabilities and reduce public safety. Historical precedent from the 1990s Clipper chip debate is cited as context for renewed crypto policy conflicts.
Read at ComputerWeekly.com
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