I’m going to suggest that there’s one very obvious idea that this whole ‘snoopers charter’ has overlooked. “How will this affect secure business communications”. Applications such as WhatsApp use an protocol known as ‘jabber’ (actually, that app is based on a platform called MongooseIM, which is a commercial product based on the open-source ejabberd). Other similar products would be HipChat and Slack. Telegram also, but that’s written by some Ukrainians who designed it to be uncrackable.
These aren’t just used for personal communications, but intra and inter-business communications for teams and enterprises. If it were pointed out to business leaders that for ‘the safety of the country’ that they could no longer use these systems securely, then there would be a lot more of an outcry – from those people the government is claiming to help and support to ‘get Britain back on its feet’.
Because of course, which business would want to use a communications system that had back-doors in it (or be prevented from using one that doesn’t), allowing their important communications to be monitored, either by the government, hackers or other peoples with nefarious purposes?.. If businesses cannot have secure communications to keep their industry secrets, or even the governments secrets itself with more reliance on its IT infrastructure, then how do they expect to keep all those ‘dodgy deals’ out of the public eye?.. After all, any ‘official back door’ is only an invitation or challenge for that to be hacked. ..but also if they were to claim that business were exempt, then all you would have to do would be to register yourself as a limited company and claim exemption for yourself… Theresa May, like the rest of this conservative government, is an idiot.