Five Eyes' call to end internet encryption spooks NZ privacy advocates

3 September 2018

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/five-eyes-call-to-end-internet-encryption-spooks-nz-privacy-advocates/ar-BBMNAX2?li=BBqdmGR&ocid=mailsignout

The privacy of internet use is under threat, says internet protection agency InternetNZ, over reports the Five Eyes countries want to thwart end-to-end encryption.

New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the US and the UK - members of the Five Eyes group of nations - met for a conference last week to discuss "grave threats" online and ways to tackle illicit material being shared by the likes of terrorists.

One of the solutions put forward at the conference was to break end-to-end internet encryption, according to InternetNZ. Encryption is technology that translates data into unreadable code which is only decipherable by the user and those the user intends to share it with.

"Encryption provides important protection for all of us. We need encryption for things like online banking and booking travel safely," said InternetNZ chief executive Jordan Carter in a statement on Monday.

"We need it to keep ourselves safe and secure online. Without it no one will have trust in the Internet."