Tech companies voice concern over UK's proposed new surveillance law

03/01/2024 | Politico

Industry body TechUK has raised concerns about the UK government's proposed Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to build on the Investigatory Powers Act (2016). The group has written an open letter to Home Secretary James Cleverly, warning that the new legislation could hamper the protection of user privacy, threaten technological innovation, and undermine the sovereignty of other nations. 

Technology companies are most concerned about powers contained in the bill, which would allow the Home Office to issue notices preventing technical updates that could impede information-sharing with UK intelligence agencies. TechUK argues that this power would enable the government to indefinitely veto companies from making changes to their products and services offered in the UK, such as blocking the implementation of new end-to-end encryption.

The bill is currently at the report stage in the House of Lords, with the next sitting scheduled for 23 January.

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CCTV, surveillance

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