Street art by Banksy near Hyde Park, London. Credit: David Maddison/Flickr. Some rights reserved.The “Five Eyes” is a surveillance partnership of intelligence agencies consisting of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. According to a joint communique issued after the meeting, officials discussed encryption and access to data. The communique states that “encryption can severely undermine public safety efforts by impeding lawful access to the content of communications during investigations into serious crimes, including terrorism.”
In the letter organized by Access Now, CIPPIC, and researchers from Citizen Lab, 83 groups and security experts wrote, “we call on you to respect the right to use and develop strong encryption.” Signatories also urged the members of the ministerial meeting to commit to allowing public participation in any future discussions.
Read the full letter here.
