§ Mr. McNultyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the results of the study recently carried out on Encryption and Law Enforcement by the Performance and Innovation Unit in the Cabinet Office. [85605]
§ Mr. WillsI am now able to announce the main conclusions from this important study carried out by a joint Government-industry team in the Cabinet Office's Performance and Innovation Unit.
The Team's recommendations, which have been agreed by the Government, include the establishment of a new industry/Government forum to take forward discussion on encryption matters which will be chaired by a senior DTI official; a new initiative to create an international forum to discuss encryption and law enforcement issues; and the establishment of a Technical Assistance Centre (under Home Office auspices) to assist the law enforcement agencies to make intelligible legally obtained encrypted information.
On the Electronic Commerce Bill, the PIU Team concluded that the proposed licensing (or accreditation) regime for cryptography service providers should not include any requirement for mandatory storage of 196W encryption keys. The PIU team also welcomed the proposals in the consultation document to allow lawful access to decryption keys and/or plain text under proper authority
I believe that the recommendations outlined above, coupled with the dialogue that has already taken place with industry on this complex issue, will usher in a new era of co-operation between Government and industry; ensuring that the UK becomes both the best, and the safest, place to conduct electronic business.
Copies of the PIU report are available in the Libraries of the House.