Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she intends to activate the Section 253 Maintenance of Technical Capability power contained in the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 in connection with messaging services featuring end-to-end encryption, such as Whatsapp or Telegram.

The Government is committed to working with telecommunications operators to ensure that the security and intelligence agencies and law enforcement are able to access the data they need to protect the public.

In due course the Government will commence the Technical Capability Notice provisions and will bring forward regulations, on which we have already held a targeted consultation with relevant bodies. These regulations will set out the obligations which can be imposed on telecommunications and postal operators. As with all secondary legislation subject to the affirmative resolution procedure, these regulations will be subject to debate and a vote in both Houses of Parliament before they come into effect.

It has been a long standing position of successive governments not to comment on which companies are or are not subject to obligations to provide assistance in relation to investigatory powers.