Brits would quite like their private messages to stay private
New polling indicates that a significant majority of British adults oppose government access to encrypted messages and distrust authorities with such powers. The findings highlight a growing tension between UK government surveillance efforts and the tech industry's commitment to end-to-end encryption.
Why it matters
This reflects a major public policy conflict regarding digital privacy rights versus national security mandates in the UK.
Polling finds two-thirds don't trust this government, or any future one, with access to their encrypted chats
Brits have delivered a fairly unambiguous verdict on giving the government access to their encrypted messages: no, thanks.
New polling commissioned by the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) found that 93 percent of British adults believe they have a right to private conversations online, while 89 percent think nobody should be able to access their personal messages without a court order.
Perhaps more awkwardly for Westminster, two-thirds said they would not trust either the current government or any future one with the power to access encrypted messages.
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