A look at WhatsApp's approach to detecting child porn, as police worry that wider use of end-to-end encryption online will make it harder to catch predators
A trail of clues helped police close in on a dangerous predator. Now, a battle over the future of end-to-end encryption could change the rules of engagement Tweets: @seansli , @safepress , @malwarejake , @johnc1912 , @carmelatroncoso , @cyberpeacecorps , @matthew_d_green , @mattburgess1 , @imincorrigible , @joannashields , @gilanghamidy , @theophite , @bpreneel1 , @paulbernaluk , @matthew_d_green , @matthew_d_green , @matthew_d_green , and @matthew_d_green Tweets: Sean Li / @seansli : One of the most accessible-yet-thorough primers that I've seen on the very,very hard topic. There are no easy answers here. https://www.wired.co.uk/... @safepress : Matthew is angry, rightly so. This was to be expected from politicians, which is why I've long thought we needed technical alternatives and could not trust regulation. Today @MaidSafe are testing their alternative. Anyone with a PC can join and try this: https://safenetforum.org/... https://twitter.com/... Jake Williams / @malwarejake : If you read only one thread today, make it this one from @matthew_d_green. The last post is 100% on point: whatever cause we tear down security and privacy for won't be the end. The government will always find new ways to (ab)use capabilities once it has them. https://twitter.com/... John Carr / @johnc1912 : Read this and weep. Detailed account of a police investigation into a dangerous and prolific paedophile. Got 25 years in jail but would he have been caught at all if end-to-end encryption had been in place? https://www.wired.co.uk/... Carmela Troncoso / @carmelatroncoso : This 👇 Every single tweet of this thread needs to be read and internalized When purpose cannot be controlled systems *must* not be built (and in this case there cant even be oversight!!) Nor in the name of children, nor in the name of safety, nor in the name of public health https://twitter.com/... CyberPeace Corps / @cyberpeacecorps : 📰#CyberPeaceNews I “Concerns have also been raised about how effective WhatsApp's metadata moderation system can be at scale.” said Nitish Chandan, a researcher at @cyberpeacengo. Read More @WIRED👉🏻https:// www.wired.co.uk/... #CyberSecurity #CyberPeace Matthew Green / @matthew_d_green : This article about end-to-end encryption and authorities' desire to perform real-time content scanning is very well written and I hope you'll read it. It also makes me pretty angry. https://twitter.com/... Matt Burgess / @mattburgess1 : Encryption is under attack around the world. My long read from earlier this week on the debate that will define the future of our communications for decades to come https://www.wired.co.uk/... I Am Incorrigible FCA / @imincorrigible : “I want to stress that once these content scanning systems are in place (for [CSA] imagery) their usage will expand. They will be retasked by govts all over the world to scan for speech we consider “protected”. This is the infrastructure of authoritarianism” Excellent thread. https://twitter.com/... Joanna Shields / @joannashields : A truly horrifying story. It makes me sick thinking that the system that helped the police build a case against criminals like Wilson, is about to be torn down. We cannot allow Facebook to obfuscate these crimes for ‘privacy’. @WeProtect https://www.wired.co.uk/... Gilang M. Hamidy / @gilanghamidy : This is actually the drawback of perfect privacy. On one side, end-to-end encryption preserves everyone's right to privacy in this digital era. However, it also allows disgusting criminals like this case to grow under our noses. Cryptography is certainly a double-edged sword. https://twitter.com/... Rev. Howard Arson / @theophite : this is a pretty good thread, although i do disagree fairly strongly with some individual tweets. (particularly, that with enough int'l support, you could get to a multiparty verification strategy for new content hashes.) https://twitter.com/... Bart Preneel / @bpreneel1 : The crypto war raises its ugly head again. Particularly in the EU an open debate is missing where all the elements are brought to the table - broader risks to society of a massive surveillance infrastructure are typically swept under the carpet. https://twitter.com/... Paul Bernal / @paulbernaluk : Thread. Read it all. https://twitter.com/... Matthew Green / @matthew_d_green : I want to stress that once these content scanning systems are in place (for child abuse imagery) their usage will expand. They will be retasked by governments all over the world to scan for speech we consider “protected”. This is the infrastructure of authoritarianism. 8/ Matthew Green / @matthew_d_green : There is no acknowledgment that this is an insane escalation and poses a massive risk to civil liberties, let alone an even more unsolved technical problem. We have to look at *all* of your messages now and this is a more reasonable ask? 4/ Matthew Green / @matthew_d_green : But without solving that question , policymakers have shifted their “ask” to something much less reasonable. Now they want a system that can do real-time surveillance against every piece of data sent through an encrypted messaging system. 3/ Matthew Green / @matthew_d_green : This is a really hard problem. How do you build a system that can keep your data encrypted against hackers, but still allows (even local) police to decrypt it when they want. Some co-authors wrote about this. https://mitpress.mit.edu/... 2/