Back in 2000, the Government passed the Regulation of
Investigatory Powers Act, better known as RIPA. Part 3 of RIPA has
never been brought into force. It includes a power which allows
certain authorities to force the disclosure of information that is
stored in an encrypted form and it can force the disclosure of the
encryption key itself. Section 53 of RIPA makes failing to comply
an offence.
"The use of encryption is … proliferating," Byrne told the House
of Commons last Wednesday. "Encryption products are more widely available
and are integrated as security features in standard operating
systems, so the Government have concluded that it is now right to
implement the provisions of part 3 of RIPA, including section 53,
which is not presently in force."
Parliamentary scrutiny is not required to bring part 3 into
force. But Byrne said the Government will publish for consultation
a draft statutory code of practice for the investigation of
protected electronic data and the exercise of powers in part 3.
Under RIPA, the maximum sentence for a breach of section 53 was
two years' imprisonment. However, the legislation was amended by
the Terrorism Act 2006 such that any "national security case" can
be punished with a maximum sentence of five years.
Struan Robertson, Editor of OUT-LAW.COM and a Senior Associate
with Pinsent Masons, said: "When it was passed, RIPA evoked fears
that innocent people would be sent to jail for forgetting their
password. The Home Office will have a tough job addressing the
renewal of these fears in its code of practice."
A Home Office spokesman told OUT-LAW that the consultation would
be published soon. According to ZD Net UK, amendments may be made
to part 3 after the consultation has been completed.
