The UK government has recently made some claims about implementing the provisions included in Part 3 of RIPA, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. This means that, following a lawful search with a warrant issued by a judge, the police can request the keys to any encrypted material that is seized. Refusal to produce keys can then be treated as a crime in its own right.

Legal systems in most countries have laws that will prevent the government from passing such an Act. In the US the fifth amemdment, which is part of the Bill of Rights, asserts”

No person […] shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.

The italian law has a very similar provision, the “nemo tenetur se detegere” principle. It states that a person under investigation can refuse to make declarations.

But what if the encrypted files are disguised as innocent family pictures? No police or judge can request a key if they don’t know or cannot reasonably prove that a key exists.

It’s easy to imagine a mass adoption of steganographic tools where secret documents and communications are hidden inside irreproachable pictures. Similarly, tools like TrueCrypt can conceal encrypted material in a way that prevent its detection.

The UK government is going to deprive honest an law-abiding citizens of their liberties while criminals can carry on theirs businesses as usual, with just a little software upgrade.

UPDATE - Unfortunately Australia is following the same path as UK, at least in Queensland.

Queensland Police are to be given power to force suspects to hand over passwords and encryption codes. Civil libertarians warn the laws could allow corrupt police to fake evidence, because they will have access to suspects’ digital signatures. The legislation, to come into force in July, covers mobile phones, PCs, handhelds and other electronic devices. Non-compliance carries up to 12 months’ jail.

Image created by Neil Johnson, also appearing on the cover of his book Information Hiding: Steganography and Watermarking - Attacks and Countermeasures.