Privacy ends in name of protection

Proposed law invites future where every device is spied on

- by CINDY HARPER

MPS are proposing amendments to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill that would require nearly everyone’s smartphones and tablets to include builtin, unremovable surveillance software.

The proposal appears under a section titled ‘Action to promote the well-being of children by combating child sexual abuse material (CSAM).’

The amendment text specifies that any ‘relevant device supplied for use in the UK must have installed tamper-proof system software which is highly effective at preventing the recording, transmitting (by any means, including livestreaming) and viewing of CSAM using that device.’ It further defines ‘relevant devices’ as ‘smartphones or tablet computers which are either internet-connectable products or network-connectable products’.

Under this clause, manufacturers, importers, and distributors would be legally required to ensure that every internet-connected phone or tablet they sell in the UK meets this ‘CSAM requirement’.

Enforcement would occur ‘as if the CSAM requirement was a security requirement for the purposes of Part 1 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022’.

In practical terms, the only way for such software to ‘prevent the recording, transmitting (by any means, including livestreaming) and viewing of CSAM’ would be for devices to continuously scan and analyse all photos, videos, and livestreams handled by the device.