Couriers caught in crossfire over government Bill

NEWS Ovum analyst, Duncan Chapple, has uncovered a fundamental flaw in the UK government's controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Bill. The RIP Bill contains legislation pulled from the Electronic Communications Bill that covers the powers of police to intercept electronic communications. Its proposals imply people will be legally obliged to surrender encryption keys to the authorities should they need to decode communications. Failing to provide the key could lead to prosecution - a proviso which has provoked outrage from privacy activists. Speaking on Silicon.com's Behind the Headlines programme, Chapple said these proposals could also throw a spanner in the works for carrier firms, such as Federal Express, which are taking an active role in ecommerce through secure electronic communications services to businesses. "Lots of people handle encrypted documents where it wouldn't be appropriate for them to have the key. If I was an organisation like Federal Express people might pass me encrypted information to pass on to a third party. I'd lose the confidence of customers if I had to show that I was able to 'unencrypt' that information at any time," said Chapple. The Home Office could not rule out the possibility that a company like Federal Express will be subject to demands to surrender encryption keys, despite the fact that, as Chapple said, it won't be appropriate for a carrier to possess such a key. "It depends on individual cases", said a Home Office spokesperson. "Before decryption powers can be authorised, there have to be reasonable grounds for believing the person possesses the key." Ecommerce specialists at Fedex were unavailable to comment on the statements but a spokeswoman did confirm that the company is aware of the Bill and is monitoring its progress. Behind the Headlines is available in the Ebusiness Security Channel.