Expect Encryption Won't Be Used As Excuse For Law Enforcement, Says IT Secretary
NDTV
Earlier this year, the government introduced rules that require messaging apps such as WhatsApp to divulge the originator of disinformation when asked
India expects that technology companies will not use encryption as an excuse to hold up investigations and will play their part in bringing criminals to justice, the top government official in the centre's technology ministry said today.
Earlier this year, the government introduced rules that require private messaging apps such as WhatsApp to divulge the originator of disinformation when asked, a move that the Facebook-owned company says will force it to break end-to-end encryption.
"Encryption is a welcome thing most of the time...(but) when it is necessary to come to the assistance of law enforcement agencies to bring perpetrators of wrongdoing to justice then we expect that encryption will not be held up as a silly excuse to deny that," said Ajay Prakash Sawhney, secretary at IT Ministry, speaking at the virtual Global Fintech Fest conference.
The secretary did not name any messaging app. His comments come at a time WhatsApp has challenged the new IT rules in court, saying the regulations will lead to a "dangerous invasion of privacy" and are "unconstitutional".
