Internet Encryption

Debate between Lord Ashton of Hyde and Countess of Mar

Tuesday 14th May 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

Clearly, DoH is on the agenda at DCMS and will be included everywhere it is relevant. On the consideration of enforcement—as I said before, it may require changes to potential enforcement mechanisms—we are aware that there are other enforcement mechanisms. It is not true to say that you cannot block sites; it makes it more difficult, and you have to do it in a different way.

[The Countess of Mar (CB)]

My Lords, for the uninitiated, can the noble Lord tell us what DoH means —very briefly, please?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

It is not possible to do so very briefly. It means that, when you send a request to a server and you have to work out which server you are going to by finding out the IP address, the message is encrypted so that the intervening servers are not able to look at what is in the message. It encrypts the message that is sent to the servers. What that means is that, whereas previously every server along the route could see what was in the message, now only the browser will have the ability to look at it, and that will put more power in the hands of the browsers.

Broadband: Universal Service Obligation

Debate between Lord Ashton of Hyde and Countess of Mar

Monday 19th March 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

My Lords, we want to do both. We want to make sure that everyone has at least a minimum speed, and we are also investing very large amounts in full-fibre network, because it is on fibre-optic cable that everything depends in terms of mobile communications and higher speeds throughout the country, including rural areas.

[The Countess of Mar (CB)]

My Lords, can the Minister explain why remote parts of mountainous Norway and even remoter villages in China can have high-speed broadband but we in the United Kingdom cannot?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

There are mountainous parts of this country that have high-speed broadband. It is a question of getting the infrastructure in place. Broadband availability has gone up from 45% to 95% in seven years because the Government and local authorities, together with private industry, have invested a substantial amount of money.

Taxpayer Confidentiality

Debate between Lord Ashton of Hyde and Countess of Mar

Monday 14th March 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

My Lords, the Budget is on Wednesday. I am not going to talk about tax policy.

[The Countess of Mar (CB)]

My Lords, the noble Lord said in response to a previous question that confidentiality engenders trust. Is it not the case that the current furore has been caused by the fact that the public do not trust those companies?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

My Lords, the question is whether the public trust HMRC. It has a system of challenge. It is challenged by Parliament and the Public Accounts Committee, and the National Audit Office is entitled to look at all the records of HMRC, which it has done in the past.