Meredith Whittaker, president of encrypted messaging company Signal, has once again threatened to pull the app from the UK over the government’s approach to tech regulation.
Whittaker’s intervention follows plans announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday that would compel companies to prevent children from accessing or taking nude images on mobile devices, through a combination of content-screening and age verification.
Whittaker told The Mishal Husain Show that Signal "would rather exit a market than undermine the technical guarantees that people trust for their privacy.” Signal collects almost no data on its users. "What you send only goes between sender and receiver,” she said.
Whittaker made the same threat in February 2023, opposing the UK’s Online Safety Bill, which became law later that year, though insisted she was "not just flexing or being recalcitrant.”
Characterising the government’s latest plan as "very dangerous mass surveillance,” Whittaker suggested the kind of data screening in Starmer’s proposals could be used to limit speech. She also questioned the technical viability of the plans, claiming "there is no technology that has been shown to do this in a way that is robust and safe.” The government has offered very few technical details of how it might work.
Starmer has said implementation "is not an impossible challenge,” adding "when it comes to the safety of our children, standing by is not an option.”
Whittaker argued Signal’s stance on privacy "doesn’t change based on jurisdiction” and advocated for greater investment in law enforcement and social services to tackle child sexual abuse. – Bloomberg
