§ The Earl of Northeskasked Her Majesty's Government:
How, in the context of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill, they intend to respond to the decision of the European Parliament not to accept the amendment to the Mutual Legal Assistance Directive that sought to give authorities powers to demand encryption keys and to require Internet service providers to give police interception facilities. [HL1389]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonThe draft European Union Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters contains provisions to facilitate co-operation on interception of communications. It does not contain any provisions about encryption, nor does it place any obligations on Internet service providers to maintain an interception capability.
Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill, all providers of publicly available communications services in the United Kingdom will be required to maintain a reasonable intercept capability. The Bill will also give the authorities powers to access the means to understand protected material, which in some cases could mean a decryption key.