Tory cries foul over 'key escrow by the back door'

A Conservative MP has criticised the UK government for retaining the essence of the discredited 'key escrow' policy in its ecommerce plans.

Dorset South MP, Ian Bruce, slammed the Electronic Communications Bill (formerly known as the Ecommerce Bill), for retaining a voluntary regime for firms to register their security information with 'trusted third parties'. The government had intended to make such a scheme compulsory, but withdrew its proposal after an industry outcry.

But Bruce said: "Voluntary licensing of encryption information is looking a bit like the introduction of key escrow via the back door. Most of industry will agree that is the wrong way to go."

The Bill, which is due to be released in draft form before the end of the week, contains "huge bear traps" about which industry is likely to kick up a huge fuss, he said.

Industry associations have long lobbied for the removal of key escrow and of the mandatory registration of security information with third parties. Bruce said the government's proposals to make licensing voluntary is tantamount to forcing companies to register their encryption keys, because they will feel compelled to do so for fear of appearing unprofessional.

A DTI spokesman dismissed Bruce's claims. "We are not revisiting key escrow. The Prime Minster has made it clear that key escrow is dead, so it's nonsense to talk about it being reintroduced via the backdoor."

He added: "Voluntary means voluntary, and we know for a fact that industry welcomes these proposals. The point is to build confidence, which is why business needs this voluntary framework."

Michael Sharples, MD of ecommerce company, Stratum Media, was not impressed by either party's claims. "The Tories are clearly in this debate for political gain and the government is simply operating out of fear," he said.

Sharples called on all parties to move on and for policy makers to be more aware of how quickly things are changing without them. "The issues being deliberated over are going to disappear - they've already moved on, because technology and encryption is moving on so quickly," he said.