The Law Conundrum: Encryption for Personal Privacy v. Law Enforcement Needs

New Encryption Protocols for Privacy Could Hinder Law Enforcement Efforts Against Child Exploitation

As technology becomes more evolved and encryption becomes more necessary, the conflict between personal privacy and national security becomes more fervent, specifically on social media platforms that have become cesspools of illegal activity.  For example, in a recent international study, a report warned that approximately 84% of the 68 million child pornography images tracked by experts last year were available and being trafficked through Facebook. 

How New Encryption Protocols for Privacy Efforts Could Hinder Law Enforcement Efforts

Lately, privacy proponents have been concerned about the lax protection by technology giants of their users’ sensitive information.  In response to general public’s increased concern about their privacy online, technology giant Facebook has announced plans to strengthen encryption on its messaging applications, including, for example, WhatsApp, Instagram Direct, and Facebook Messenger App.  Despite this, many privacy experts worry that Facebook is still not doing enough.  At the same time, however, law enforcement agencies worry that this new trend by technology giants towards stronger encryption will severely impact their ability to catch online pedophiles and traffickers.       

For example, law enforcement agencies have stated that approximately 16.9 million tips and referrals were made to law enforcement agencies based on activity directly or indirectly related to Facebook.  These law enforcement agencies generally refer to such tipoffs as “industry reporting,” and say that this is among one of the most effective weapons they have in the fight against child pornography.  And as the availability of child pornography continues to expand, the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) estimated that the images of children being abused has doubled since last year. 

In the United Kingdom alone, industry experts reported that there were approximately 86,832 credible reports and tips that aided law enforcement agencies, with 52% of those coming from Facebook, and 11% from Facebook-owned company, Instagram.  As such, in reference to stronger encryption methods, experts state that the “end-to-end" encryption model that is commonly proposed will negate law enforcement agencies’ ability to identify leads, track digital media, analyze images using digital forensics, and profile suspicious users.  Stated bluntly, these proponents believe that stronger encryption methods will severely hamper the ability to convict offenders and rescue abused children. 

An International Effort for Compromise Between Privacy and Law Enforcement Needs

To add further scrutiny and pressure, this problem clearly is international with countries such as the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, and Japan coming together to call for technology companies such as Facebook to not turn a blind eye to trafficking on their platforms.   

Thus, in the end, if a compromise can exist, it would have to include strong encryption for personal data privacy on the part of technology companies that can somehow still be combined with the ability to support and aid law enforcement agencies in rescuing and protecting exploited children when necessary. 

Key Takeaways About Online Privacy and Law Enforcement Efforts

A recent announcement by Facebook to strengthen their encryption protocols have national and international law enforcement agencies worried that such protocols will hamper their ability to catch child pornographers that utilize Facebook and similar platforms.  As such, legal experts should be aware of:

  • technology giants’ reasons for improving or introducing new encryption protocols;

  • how law enforcement uses social media platforms to track illicit activities such as child pornography; and

  • the inevitable clash between user privacy and the reach of the law.

For more insights on Data Privacy, see our Technology & Data Law Overview and Industry Focused Legal Solutions pages.

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