New Zealand Police, as part of the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT), is today releasing a joint statement highlighting the devastating impact End-to-End Encryption may have on the ability to identify sex offenders online and protect children.
The Virtual Global Taskforce jointly urges industry partners to recognise their responsibility in protecting children on their platforms and to only implement major platform design choices alongside robust safety systems that safeguard children from online sexual abuse.
New Zealand Police is one of 15 law enforcement agencies working alongside affiliate members from private industry and non-governmental organisations to tackle the global threat of online child sexual abuse.
The VGT Statement (attached to this release) notes that while there is no doubt that encryption plays an important role in safeguarding privacy, this must be balanced with the importance of safeguarding children online.
The VGT is aware of the negative effect that End-to-End Encryption has on the ability of companies and law enforcement agencies to counter the crime of online child sexual exploitation.
The VGT encourages industry to respond and consider the following: Only to implement platform design choices, including End-to-End Encryption, at scale alongside robust safety systems that maintain or increase child safety.
Where the child user base and risk is high, a proportionate investment and implementation of technically feasible safety solutions is paramount. The abuse will not stop just because companies decide to stop looking.
The VGT notes that we all have a role to play in protecting children in online spaces, and strongly urges industry partners to take active steps toward this goal.
Detective Inspector Stuart Mills, Manager Intercept and Technology Operations, National Criminal Investigation Group says “A considerable amount of work continues to be undertaken in the End-to-End Encryption space. This is another strand to this very broad topic which will continue to have significant impact on the child sexual exploitation and investigation space.”
