Bill Goodwin

Computer Weekly's Bill Goodwin has seen both sides of the courtroom during a career spent exposing the surveillance state and protecting those who wish to let the world know its secrets

Keir Starmer announces UK social media ban for under-16s that requires mandatory age verification to access social media services

NCSC advises on countermeasures for high-risk individuals over phishing attacks on encrypted messaging services, such as Signal, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger

The UK and Europe are ramping up opposition to encryption and stepping up surveillance of private communications. Here is what to expect this year

History shows that law enforcement can bring successful prosecutions without the need for the Home Office to introduce ‘backdoors’ into end-to-end encryption

Tech companies brace after UK demands back door access to Apple cloud Tech companies brace for more attacks on encryption The UK has served a notice on Apple demanding back door access to encrypted data stored by users anywhere in the world on Apple’s cloud service. Technology companies are bracing themselves for more attacks on encryption after the UK government issued an order requiring Apple to create a back door to allow security officials access to content uploaded on the cloud by any Apple phone or computer user world-wide. The government has used powers under UK surveillance laws to issue a secret order requiring Apple to provide the UK with the ability to access all encrypted material stored by any Apple users on its cloud servers anywhere in the world, the Washington post revealed.

Europol wants examples of police investigations hampered by end-to-end encryption as it pressures tech companies to provide law enforcement access to encrypted messages.

Christian Horz - stock.adobe.com Christian Horz - stock.adobe.com By Pavel Durov, the founder and chief executive of Telegram, has been placed under formal investigation by a French judge over allegations relating to criminal activity on the social…

Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, the encrypted messaging service and social media app that claims 700 million active users, is being questioned by French cyber crime police over charges that he is complicit in the illegal use of the platform.…

The social media company, Meta, has come under fire as European police chief’s step up pressure against governments and tech companies over the use of end-to-end encryption to secure email and messaging services. Police chiefs from 32 countries,…

Some 30 cyber security experts, cryptographers and academics have written to the home secretary, James Cleverly, urging the government to reconsider amendments to the UK’s surveillance laws, which they warn will introduce significant “bureaucratic…

Government plans to update the UK’s surveillance laws could divert tech companies away from safeguarding the privacy and security of their customers towards meeting the surveillance needs of government. The warning from technology companies comes in…

The government yesterday attempted to quash industry concerns that the “spy clause” in the Online Safety Bill, which aims to crack down on child abuse and other harmful online content, would fundamentally weaken end-to-end encrypted services. Junior…

A proposed European law that could require communications companies, including WhatsApp, Signal, and Facebook Messenger to scan the contents of private and encrypted messages for child abuse material are likely to be annulled by the European Court of…

Peers hear that the government is being deliberately ambiguous about its plans to require technology companies to scan the content of encrypted messages The government is playing a high-stakes game of chicken with technology companies by being…

Encryption technology used by Ukraine to defend against the Russian invasion could be placed at risk by measures in the Online Safety Bill currently passing through Parliament. The CEO of a company that supplies end-to-end encryption (E2EE)…

The Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) has fined WhatsApp, which provides an encrypted communication service, €5.5 million (£4.8m) after finding the company is unlawfully relying on a contract with its users to comply with General Data…

Governments are in danger of turning to “magical software solutions” to fight child abuse and terrorism, rather than investing in police, social workers and teachers who can deal with the underlying causes, a Cambridge academic claims. Professor of…

Proposals in the Online Safety Bill to give the telecoms regulator Ofcom powers to mandate technology companies to use scanning software to monitor encrypted messages for illegal content should be dropped, it was claimed this week. According to…

The European Parliament has voted to expand Europol’s role, legalising its processing of bulk datasets containing personal information and endorsing research into predictive policing technologies The European Parliament has voted to give Europol wide…