To encrypt or not to encrypt: balancing digital privacy with protection for society's most vulnerable

Police have long been able to access personal data in order catch online predators, but that is set to change as more big tech companies shift to end-to-end encryption.

The internet and subsequent rise of social media have given child predators the ability to more easily perpetrate their vile acts, and perhaps no case better describes this than that of David Wilson.

According to the BBC, 36-year-old Wilson posed as a 13-year-old girl on social media in order to coerce young boys, aged 4-14, to send him illicit photos and videos. He allegedly sent sexual images of young women to the boys, and in return they sent images and videos of themselves. It was reported that Wilson then "used these images to blackmail his victims into sending more extreme content." He even "distributed images to some of his victims' friends, despite them begging him to stop." The BBC stated that "some children spoke of wanting to end their lives as a result."

In February, Wilson pleaded guilty to 54 counts of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, 25 counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, 10 counts of causing a child to watch a sexual act, three counts of blackmail and four counts of arranging or facilitating the sexual exploitation of a child, reports the BBC.

Wilson's case has highlighted the debate surrounding end-to-end encryption of online communication. According to Wired Magazine, he used "Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram accounts", all of which are not encrypted. They all use an AI system called PhotoDNA, that "checks photos and videos uploaded to the web against a list of known child sexual abuse material." This made it easy for law enforcement to track Wilson down and see everything he'd done.

Other social media apps, namely Whatsapp, are fully encrypted, meaning that the content of a message is only seen by the sender and receiver. The most common form of encryption works by taking a message and garbling the data when it is sent, then returning it to its original form when it is received.

The information that exists between the point of sending and receiving is called metadata, and with the rise in end-to-end encryption, it is becoming crucial when it comes to investigating potentially suspicious activity.

According to Wired Magazine, platforms that use end-to-end encryption often collect a vast array of metadata, including your IP address, how often and to whom you send messages, and when you're online, as well as "information you provide when signing up, such as your name and profile photo." With only metadata, law enforcement have a much harder time detecting and intercepting harmful material.

That being said, new systems have been introduced to bridge the gap. Whatsapp has recently begun using Google machine learning software that scans group names and such for codewords, or intentional misspellings of words in attempts to evade detection.

Nonetheless, as more companies opt for the digital privacy offered by end-to-end encryption, more solutions will have to be created to make up for lost information. Google is at the forefront of such efforts, and more companies are sure to follow their lead.

Lloyd Richardson, director of IT at the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, reminds people that, "The internet has been playing legislative catch up for the last 20 years. As Wire Magazine reports, "Multi-billion dollar companies," he argues, "shouldn't be deciding for society what is acceptable in terms of how they're going to safeguard their services. That’s the job of society and government, not big tech."

As the debate over encryption rages on, it is likely the most vulnerable who will feel the effects. While David Wilson was caught thanks to the ability of authorities to view his digital activity, child predators of the future are being given a gift by tech companies under the guise of privacy.