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   Florida wants an encryption backdoor -- in the name of childrens safety   
      
   Date:   
   Tue, 15 Apr 2025 15:02:31 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   Instead of protecting minors using social media, experts warn that Florida's   
   bill will end up making them less safe online. Here's all you need to know.   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
   Florida is considering a bill that could force all social media platforms    
   that allow accounts for minors to provide an encryption backdoor for law   
   enforcement.    
      
   The bill will also prevent minors from using or accessing ephemeral messaging   
   features, meaning messages that disappear after viewing, including WhatsApp's   
   view once. Social media providers will also be required to give the minors'   
   parents or guardians access to all messages posted by their children.    
      
   Known as the "Social Media Use By Minors" bill ( SB 868 / HB 743 ), the   
   proposal is the latest legal effort to protect children's safety online. Yet,   
   privacy experts warn that such requirements will make young people less safe   
   instead.   
      
   "Asking for the impossible"    
      
   As digital rights experts at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) wrote ,   
   "The bill is not only privacy-invasive, its also asking for the impossible."    
      
   Encryption is used by the best VPN and encrypted messaging apps to keep    
   users' online activities private. WhatsApp and Signal employ end-to-end   
   encryption to scramble data into an unreadable form to ensure only your   
   intended recipients can read your messages.    
      
   As per their own words, Florida's lawmakers want to force "social media   
   platforms to provide a mechanism to decrypt end-to-end encryption when law   
   enforcement obtains a subpoena."    
      
   Cryptographers and other experts, however, have long warned that what's known   
   as an encryption backdoor cannot be implemented without undermining the whole   
   system's security. That's because, besides the possibility of authorities   
   misuse, malicious actors will end up being able to exploit this entry point.    
      
   Florida wants to introduce such requirements specifically for providers that   
   allow minors to open an account in a bid to improve children's safety online.   
   Yet, EFF experts believe it will acheieve exactly the opposite result.    
      
   "This would likely lead to companies not offering end-to-end encryption to   
   minors at all, making them less safe online," they said.   
      
   Another contentious point is the plan of "prohibiting minor account holders   
   from using or accessing messages that are designed to disappear or self   
   destruct."    
      
   Again, according to EFF experts, targeting this feature would solely end up   
   harming the privacy of everyone instead, without achieving anything to    
   protect children. Even ephemeral messages can be saved and reported if    
   needed.    
      
   The "Social Media Use By Minors" bill seeks to expand the reach of Florida's   
   Social Media Law ( HB 3 ), which came into force at the beginning of the    
   year. Among other things, the law introduced mandatory age verification    
   checks for accessing material deemed harmful to minors and a ban for opening    
   a social media account to children younger than 14.    
      
   The HB 3 law was hit by a complaint back in October, raising concerns around   
   free speech implications. The lawsuit is still ongoing at the time of    
   writing.    
      
   For EFF expert is a no-brainer  lawmakers should reject the bill and focus on   
   alternative protections, like better consumer privacy laws and digital   
   literarcy at school.    
      
   "Minors, as well as those around them, deserve the right to speak privately   
   without law enforcement listening in."   
      
   A global push    
      
   Florida is only the latest government pushing to get law enforcement greater   
   access to encrypted data. The UK, EU, and even Switzerland  once believed to   
   be a privacy paradise  are considering some form of encryption backdoor at    
   the time of writing.    
      
   The tech industry doesn't look willing to weaken the security of their   
   systems, though. Apple decided to kill its iCloud E2E feature in the UK for   
   not building a backdoor and is now challenging the UK in court. While Signal   
   has reiatered more than once that the company would rather leave the market   
   than undermine encryption.   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/florida-wants-an-encryption   
   -backdoor-in-the-name-of-childrens-safety   
      
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