Question: On 11 October 2020; India has joined the Five Eyes, an intelligence alliance of five countries for-
a) Cooperation in defense
b) Cooperation in health sector
c) Cooperation in signals intelligence
d) Cooperation in Biotechnology
Answer: (c)
Related Facts:
- On 11 October 2020; India has joined the Five Eyes in asking big tech companies to come up with a solution for law enforcement to access end-to-end encrypted communications.
- Five Eyes is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
- These countries are parties to the multilateral UKUSA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperation in signals intelligence.
- It has now become the campaign of seven countries as India and Japan also joined the campaign against messages being sent in code language on social media.
- The seven governments demanded backdoors into end-to-end encrypted chats as end-to-end encryption prevents authorities from looking into serious crimes and matters like national security.
- The Five Eyes have made similar calls to tech giants in 2018 and 2019.
- The representatives from the seven governments asserted the need for encryption backdoors.
- These should not just for encrypted instant messaging applications, but also for device encryption, custom encrypted applications and encryption across integrated platforms.
- The statement noted that tech companies themselves cannot identify and respond to violations of their terms of service.
- These include responses to illegal content and activity on its platform, including child sexual exploitation and abuse, violent crime, terrorist propaganda, and attack planning.
- It further noted that end to end encryption makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies “to access content in limited circumstances where necessary and proportionate to investigate serious crimes and protect national security.”
- Seven governments in a press release appealed technology companies to work with governments.
- They have also instructed to take the following steps, focused on reasonable, technically feasible solutions-
i. Embed the safety of the public in system designs, thereby enabling companies to act against illegal content and activity effectively with no reduction to safety, and facilitating the investigation and prosecution of offences and safeguarding the vulnerable.
ii. Enable law enforcement access to content in a readable and usable format where an authorisation is lawfully issued, is necessary and proportionate, and is subject to strong safeguards and oversight.
iii. Engage in consultation with governments and other stakeholders to facilitate legal access in a way that is substantive and genuinely influences design decisions.
By – Rajesh Tripathi
Links:-
https://www.computing.co.uk/news/4021518/japan-india-five-eyes-encrypted-apps
https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/india-joins-five-eyes-japan-in-demanding-backdoor-into-whatsapp-end-to-end-encrypted-chats-1730681-2020-10-12
https://ciso.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india-joins-uk-led-fight-against-encrypted-online-messages/78673027