Another tech firm says it has quit the UK over government internet surveillance plans by Graham Cluley.
From the post:
When British technology firm ind.ie announced it was quitting the UK because of the government’s plans to widen mass internet surveillance through a Snooper’s charter, and to block messaging services unless they have a government backdoor, I predicted that they weren’t going to the be the last.
Turns out I was right.
Eris Industries has announced it has told its staff to leave the country and, at least temporarily, moved its headquarters to New York.
The firm says it will only come back if the Communications Data Bill (the UK government’s preferred name for the Snooper’s Charter) has its offending legislation amended.
A blog post by Eris Industries’ COO Preston Byrne, explains the company’s position – it simply cannot engage in its business if it is forced to incorporate cryptographic backdoors that can be accessed by MI5 and GCHQ:
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If you have flown into any UK airport but particularly those for London, you will realize that the UK is now a fully functional police state. Not as unpleasant as say the former German Democratic Republic, but that is a matter of degree and not kind.
Don’t get me wrong, the UK is bursting with cultural and human wealth but is being oppressed by a fearful few. How and when that oppression will end is unknown but one hopes with severe consequences for the fearful few.