MORE than three quarters (77 per cent) of Scots believe the UK Government will abuse its increased powers to access data from emails and texts if the draft Investigatory Powers Bill – dubbed the “snoopers’ charter” – becomes law, according to a new survey.
And the report for cybersecurity firm Venafi found that 74 per cent of Scottish respondents opposed moves by government to introduce encryption backdoors, compared with 70 per cent UK-wide.
The company said across the UK, 76 per cent of respondents were concerned the Bill would increase government powers to access their communications data; 69 per cent suspected that the government already abused its power to access them; and 65 per cent did not trust the government to look after their information.
Kevin Bocek, the company’s vice president for security strategy said: “Governments all over the world already have the power to do what the FBI could only ask a judge to do against Apple: gain access to the ‘God’ keys that protect privacy for consumers and businesses.
“Every business is now essentially a software company, whether a bank, retailer, insurer, or manufacturer, and could find itself in the crosshairs of government without recourse, especially in the UK.
“This isn’t just a question of whether we trust government to behave responsibly and not abuse its power to hijack the internet and privacy, it is also a question of competence.
“Just like we saw with Stuxnet (a malicious computer worm thought to be a joint American-Israeli cyber weapon) governments breaching the privacy of businesses to create cyber weapons produces powerful blueprints for cybercriminals to follow the lead.”
Venafi also found most people in the UK (69 per cent) wrongly believed the US Government had greater powers than the UK in relation to accessing private and protected information.
Earlier this year Apple boss Tim Cook had a very public disagreement with the FBI after the agency ordered the company to bypass security functions on an iPhone used by one of two attackers who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California, last December.
Venafi said that if UK law enforcement bodies had taken such action against Apple – as they could any UK business – Cook could have been locked up in jail and Apple forced to turn over its decryption keys without a judge’s approval.
The UK Government already has powers under the Regulation of Investigative Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) to force individuals, or the CEO of a company which holds data, to provide access to them without making an application to a judge.
Company individuals served with so-called S49 notices are then isolated and, unlike Cook, would be unable to make a public statement about their case. Non-compliance can result in criminal proceedings with a prison term at the end.
However, four out of five UK citizens have never heard of RIPA or the powers it gives the Government. Once they looked at its terms, 71 per cent of UK respondents thought it was unfair (under RIPA) the Government could force people or businesses into handing over personal information without having been charged or convicted of any crime.
A further 78 per cent also thought it was wrong companies could be compelled to give out customer data without their knowledge or consent.
Bocek added: “RIPA has huge implications for UK businesses and the multi-nationals that operate here; particularly individuals in more senior positions within those organisations. There is no option to hide behind the corporate veil. It is the individual that is charged, not the company; the individual that needs to make the difficult choice between protecting customer data or their personal freedom.
“Most citizens have no idea these powers exist. This is a worrying state of affairs. Our freedoms and rights are being eroded: government is gaining powers to hijack the internet.”
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