U.K.'s David Cameron To Push U.S. For Right To Snoop Through Google, Facebook
Source: Associated Press
White House won't say whether it would OK 'backdoor access' to check for national security threats
The Associated Press Posted: Jan 16, 2015 10:10 AM ET
British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to press U.S. President Barack Obama Friday on getting technology companies like Google and Facebook to allow governments to snoop on encrypted communications, amid fresh concerns about terrorism.
Obama and Cameron will meet at the White House today, a week after 17 people died in terror attacks in France spurred by a satirical newspaper's caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. Fears of additional attacks by Islamic extremists grew Thursday, when police in Belgium killed two suspects during an anti-terror raid launched to preempt what officials called a major impending attack.
Cameron has argued that intelligence agencies must be able to intercept terror suspects' communications on encrypted social media and messaging sites. However, his view has struck a nerve in the U.S. and in Britain, countries that both have grappled to find a balance between security and privacy.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest wouldn't say whether Obama would support a government "backdoor" to get around encryption and allow authorities to monitor communications that might help to protect national security, but Earnest said the issue surely would arise in Obama's meeting with Cameron.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/u-k-s-david-cameron-to-push-u-s-for-right-to-snoop-through-google-facebook-1.2912485
