Ahead of Hearing, 老澳门开奖结果 Urges Nevada Court to Protect Americans鈥 Right to Private and Secure Communications

Forcing Meta to Roll Back End-to-End Encryption Protections Would Make Internet Less Safe, Experts Say

March 19, 2024 4:00 pm

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LAS VEGAS 鈥 The Clark County Eighth District Court in Nevada is hearing arguments tomorrow in Nevada v. Meta, a case that experts warn could impact the future of end-to-end encryption across the country. End-to-end encryption means that no one but the people in a conversation鈥攏ot the service provider, criminals, domestic abusers, foreign despots, nor law enforcement鈥 will be able to decipher or access the contents of messages.

In a friend-of-the-court brief submitted last week, the 老澳门开奖结果, 老澳门开奖结果 of Nevada, and a diverse group of digital rights organizations and Internet communications companies urged the court to reject the Nevada attorney general鈥檚 request to stop Meta from offering end-to-end encryption as a default for Facebook Messenger users in Nevada and under 18, a demand that would leave children and their families vulnerable to cyberattacks and security breaches.

鈥淚n today's world our most sensitive information can be found all over the internet, making it ripe for exploitation by a range of actors who do not have our best interests at heart,鈥 said Jennifer Granick, surveillance and cybersecurity counsel with the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. 鈥淚t is imperative that our data remain private and secure, especially for young users who may be especially vulnerable to any third-party鈥檚 prying eyes.鈥

Nevada鈥檚 Attorney General is arguing that end-to-end encryption is harmful because it impedes some criminal investigations involving crimes against children. However, as the brief explains, end-to-end encryption prevents many crimes from occurring in the first place, while also protecting people from corporations selling their information and from government surveillance and abuse. Further, law enforcement can and does conduct investigations involving encrypted messages, including by obtaining evidence directly from the victims and the perpetrators. Blocking the use of end-to-end encryption, therefore, would undermine public safety, making the children of Nevada, and the people they communicate with, more vulnerable online, not less.

 

A copy of the amicus brief can be found here.

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