Yes the technical term has evolved but did the term evolve in the legislation definition of it?
If not, then the technically correct usage doesn’t matter which is a point I’ve made in another comment as well.
And in my previous comment, I am pointing out the logical inconsistencies. Not that I agree or disagree with the technical terminology. You seem to be conflating a logical explanation/call-out of logic holes for my opinion, which it is not
The legislation definition is the exact problem. The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 defines ‘encryption’ functionally — any process that renders data unintelligible without a key. That definition hasn’t been updated since. So yes, the technical term has evolved, but the legal hook hasn’t moved with it.
The result is that the same mathematical operation — a hash, a signature, a key exchange — sits in different legal categories depending on framing. TLS on a commercial website is fine. The same TLS on a messaging app that declines to provide a backdoor is suddenly ‘obstruction.’
That’s not a security policy. It’s a political preference encoded as technical language. The legal definition isn’t tracking the technology; it’s tracking the threat model of whoever wrote the bill in 2016.
Yes the technical term has evolved but did the term evolve in the legislation definition of it?
If not, then the technically correct usage doesn’t matter which is a point I’ve made in another comment as well.
And in my previous comment, I am pointing out the logical inconsistencies. Not that I agree or disagree with the technical terminology. You seem to be conflating a logical explanation/call-out of logic holes for my opinion, which it is not
The legislation definition is the exact problem. The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 defines ‘encryption’ functionally — any process that renders data unintelligible without a key. That definition hasn’t been updated since. So yes, the technical term has evolved, but the legal hook hasn’t moved with it.
The result is that the same mathematical operation — a hash, a signature, a key exchange — sits in different legal categories depending on framing. TLS on a commercial website is fine. The same TLS on a messaging app that declines to provide a backdoor is suddenly ‘obstruction.’
That’s not a security policy. It’s a political preference encoded as technical language. The legal definition isn’t tracking the technology; it’s tracking the threat model of whoever wrote the bill in 2016.