The British Government’s War on Encryption: Protecting Paedophiles, Spies, and Itself

The British State has done it again. Just when you think it can’t become any more of a police state, it finds a way. This time, it has bullied Apple into scrapping its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) for UK users. ADP is a feature that would have given iCloud data the same kind of strong encryption used by messaging apps like Signal and WhatsApp—encryption that not even Apple could break. The whole point was that no one but you could access your files. But of course, that’s exactly why our rulers couldn’t allow it.

The official excuse, as always, is “protecting the children.” We’ve heard it before. The government says it needs access to encrypted data to catch terrorists and paedophiles. It’s an emotive argument, designed to shut down all opposition. But let’s be honest: do we really think the British State cares about child abuse? This is the same government that ignored grooming gangs for decades, because actually stopping mass rape would have been “racist.” They aren’t interested in stopping crime. They are interested in power—specifically, the power to monitor and control every single person in this country.

If the government were serious about crime, it wouldn’t be obsessed with cracking open encrypted data. Criminals will always find ways around surveillance. The smart ones already use their own encryption methods, or they simply don’t keep records at all. The people who will be exposed by this attack on encryption are normal citizens—people like you.

Ask yourself: why is it always governments that demand backdoors into encrypted data? You never hear ordinary people saying, “I wish the police had easier access to my private messages.” That’s because normal people understand something that our rulers pretend not to: encryption is about security, not secrecy. You lock your front door at night, not because you are doing anything illegal, but because you don’t want strangers walking in. Encryption is the digital equivalent of a lock, and the British Government is demanding the master key.

And let’s not pretend they won’t abuse it. They always do. Give them an inch, and they will take everything. We already live in a country where police arrest people for Facebook posts, where dissidents are put on “extremism” watchlists for saying men aren’t women, and where the government wants to censor “wrongthink” on the internet. Now they want the power to read every intimate message, every financial transaction. If you don’t think they’ll use it to silence critics and destroy enemies, you haven’t been paying attention.

The irony of all this is that it makes us less safe. Encryption doesn’t just protect people from government spies—it protects them from cybercriminals, hackers, and scammers. Do you know who else would love to have a backdoor into iCloud? Indian fraudsters. Cybercriminals or every colour. Blackmailers and identity thieves. The moment encryption is weakened, criminals will find ways to exploit it. This is why companies like Apple and Signal refuse to add backdoors. They know that once a system has a weakness, it is only a matter of time before the wrong people use it.

But the government doesn’t care. Your personal security means nothing to them. The important thing is that they can access whatever they want, whenever they want. They are the thieves you need to worry about.

The British Government is not interested in stopping crime. It is interested in controlling us. The attack on encryption is part of a larger pattern: increasing censorship, criminalising speech, and turning Britain into a high-tech police state where nothing is private.

Encryption is one of the last barriers between ordinary people and total government control. It is your right to keep your your personal life out of the hands of the State. Do not let them take that from you.

If you value your freedom, use encryption while you still can. Because one day, they will try to take that choice away as well.