In October 2020, Five Eyes governments, India, and Japan call for encryption backdoors. Encryption is the process that scrambles readable text so it can only be read by the person who has the secret code, or decryption key. Lately, tech companies have been implementing end-to-end encryption in their communication apps.
End-to-end encryption is a system of communication where the only people who can read the messages are the people communicating.
It helps protect the privacy of the users and the integrity of the messages.
Government officials request special access claiming that E2EE makes it harder for police to investigate serious crimes and protect national security.
Executives, like Tim Cook of Apple, push back and argue that any secret access will make their applications less secure.
Cyber Security professionals support that any backdoor would likely be exploited by cyber criminals. Privacy rights advocates push for more end-to-end encryption to protect democracy and free speech.
Who will win this battle?