Why appeasing governments over encryption will never work

David Cameron and the director of the FBI have both asked for ‘backdoors’ to be included in encryption softwareEver since the internet emerged into public view in the 1980s, a key question has been whether digital technology would pose an existential challenge to corporate and governmental power. In this context, I am what you might call a recovering utopian – “utopian” in that I once did believe that the technology would put it beyond the reach of state and corporate agencies; and “