UK: National Crime Agency warns Facebook's encryption can prevent detection of child abuse
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The National Crime Agency (NCA) of Britain has warned that Facebook's plan to encrypt its messages can prevent detection of child abuse.
The social media giant's end-to-end encryption can hamper access to ''incisive technology'' accordingto NCA's director Rob Jones.
The warning comes as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company was working on plans to extend encryption.
It is bound to alarm privacy campaigners. UK's government is also trying to curb the tech titan's plans.
Facebook had allowed its users to make voice and video calls within its main app on a trial basis, aiming to make it easier to place calls without opening its standalone Messenger app.
Under this strategy, Facebook extended the option of end-to-end encryption in which nobody else, not even the company itself can listen or see what is said or sent.
After facing criticism for introducing child safety updates, Apple had announced a delay in its introduction.
The company had promised last month to check US customer phones and computers for child sex abuse images.
But the move sparked a global backlash from a wide range of rights groups, with employees also criticising the plan internally.
As per the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the tech industry made over 21 million referrals internationally of child sexual abuse on its platforms in 2020.