VIPOLE reports rapidly increasing downloads of its end-to-end encrypted communications platform ahead of the introduction of the so-called "Snoopers Charter" into UK law early next year.
The controversial Investigatory Powers Bill, having now completed its passage through both houses of Parliament and received royal assent, is expected to pass into UK law in early 2017.
As well as making it easier for the authorities to track individual's internet and mobile phone usage, the new law confers sweeping new surveillance powers on numerous government departments, allowing agencies including police and security services, the tax office, health authorities, benefits agencies and many others, to use malware and other equipment interference techniques to covertly monitor private conversations and access stored data.
The new measures have been widely condemned as being overly intrusive. Speaking in a recent BBC interview, internet inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee labelled it ‘Undemocratic’, adding that it: “Undermines our fundamental rights online" and "Risk(s) making the internet less safe for everyone."
Christopher Miller, head of development at VIPOLE, commented: "Freedom of speech and personal privacy is a fundamental cornerstone of democracy. Removing this safeguard for the vast majority of internet users in order to make it easier for the authorities to gather evidence on a very small minority of wrong-doers is, we believe, wholly disproportionate and sets a dangerous precedent."
Unease among internet users at the prospect of their private conversations being eavesdropped by such a wide range of government agencies is leading to the rapid growth of encrypted communications platforms such as VIPOLE. Its secure messaging and file sharing application employs end-to-end (e2e) encryption to ensure that chats, files, voice and video calls between users remain completely private and totally immune to interference.
Encryption applied by VIPOLE users is not reversible by any known technology and cannot be removed without knowing the user's private encryption keys.
Miller commented: "We have seen a steady increase in personal downloads over the course of the summer as news of the new IP Bill's passage into UK law became more widely known. We anticipate a big surge in new users when the law comes into effect next year."
(SOURCE: VIPOLE)
