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A comment on Creating apps like Signal could be 'hostile activity' claims UK watchdog.

Re:Creating apps like Signal could be 'hostile activity' cla... by richsouth on Thursday December 18, 2025 @07:10AM (#46311712)
Developers of apps that use end-to-end encryption to protect private communications could be considered hostile actors in the UK. <-- HTTPS does this. What about secure sites like baking sites that encrypt end-to-end? Old farts making laws about things they know nothing about.
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Re:Creating apps like Signal could be 'hostile activity' cla... by SirHumphrey on Thursday December 18, 2025 @07:48AM (#46312009)
>>> Old farts making laws about things they know nothing about.

We should probably stop saying and believing that. This is basically the UK government making a deal to the developers they cannot refuse: cooperate (install backdoors) or get prosecuted. The French tried to do something similar not so long ago.

A decade ago politicians genuinely didn’t know much about the internet so most of the laws were terribly ill informed good ideas. The new sweep of internet legislation like chat control, age verification and banning of vpns are much more dangerous because those pushing know exactly what they are doing.

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Re:Creating apps like Signal could be 'hostile activity' cla... by hs586 on Thursday December 18, 2025 @10:57AM (#46314304)
Exactly this. I do not think this is a case of Hanlon's razor. Assuming incompetence or stupidity of the government officials trying to push for is very dangerous.

(Great username, btw, SirHumphrey)

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Re:Creating apps like Signal could be 'hostile activity' cla... by arccy on Thursday December 18, 2025 @07:16AM (#46311762)
baking sites, the most secure source of cookies
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Re:Creating apps like Signal could be 'hostile activity' cla... by neilalexander on Thursday December 18, 2025 @07:15AM (#46311749)
> Old farts making laws about things they know nothing about.

Who's going to stop them?

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Re:Creating apps like Signal could be 'hostile activity' cla... by ykonstant on Thursday December 18, 2025 @08:48AM (#46312584)
Young poops?
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Re:Creating apps like Signal could be 'hostile activity' cla... by CommanderData on Thursday December 18, 2025 @09:10AM (#46312873)
Why worry about E2E encryption, in theory just need a cert issued from a vast array of CAs or intermediates. Which I wouldn't be suprised they possess the ability through some type of secret warrant, heck even private keys.
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Re:Creating apps like Signal could be 'hostile activity' cla... by JoshTriplett on Thursday December 18, 2025 @11:25AM (#46314769)
> Why worry about E2E encryption, in theory just need a cert issued from a vast array of CAs or intermediates.

Certificate Transparency thankfully means this is a tool a government could only use once if at all, and then they've burned an entire CA.

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Re:Creating apps like Signal could be 'hostile activity' cla... by CommanderData on Thursday December 18, 2025 @12:27PM (#46315754)
Isn't certificate transparency opt-in, so any trusted CA could be a potential attack route.
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Re:Creating apps like Signal could be 'hostile activity' cla... by JoshTriplett on Thursday December 18, 2025 @12:56PM (#46316144)
Browsers now require it to consider a certificate valid. Firefox, Chrome, and Safari all require a certificate to include proof of being logged in CT logs.
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