Amnesty: Weakening of encryption threatens human rights

Everyone worldwide must be entitled to encryption of communications and personal data, Amnesty writes in its report published on Tuesday. That's because encryption is a crucial requirement for privacy and freedom of expression, it said. "Banning encryption is like banning envelopes or curtains," Sherif Elsayed-Ali, deputy director for global issues at Amnesty, was quoted as saying in a statement Tuesday. This, he said, prevents people from keeping their private lives private. The weakening of privacy online could have devastating consequences for open societies, especially for human rights activists, journalists and lawyers, according to the organization. Amnesty warned against forcing companies to build so-called "backdoors" into encryption software. Such measures "not only threaten privacy and have a chilling effect on free expression, they also expose online communications and personal data to security risks," it added.

The U.S. technology company Apple had been ordered by court order to help the FBI unlock an iPhone 5C used by the San Bernardino bomber. He and his wife had shot dead 14 people in the California town in early December. Apple is refusing to comply with the California court's order, saying it sets a dangerous precedent. In this case, the request to access the data of a single iPhone may be justified, Amnesty notes. However, the method of accessing data - by circumventing security regulations - poses dangers. "In opening a back door for a government, you risk opening the door also for cyber criminals, as well as for repressive regimes that want to monitor and persecute their critics," Elsayed-Ali said. (SDA)