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If you
were worrying that you lay at the bottom of the league for
computer know-how, take heart. Most of our political leaders
are probably even less knowledgeable than you!
Research
has found that Britain's MPs are both ignorant and, worse,
apathetic about the need for email privacy. And this despite
their many pledges on commitment to the country's digital
economy and their responsibility for fundamental legislation
on electronic communication.
This worrying
finding arose from a study by computer-firm Equiinet into
MPs' basic knowledge of encryption.
Researchers
asked three straightforward questions of the 192 MPs who have
email addresses listed on the House of Common Website. Just
nine MPs actually bothered to reply to the questions, which
were intended to show whether MPs could claim a basic level
of knowledge about the important subject of encryption.
The questions
were:
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Do
you know how to encrypt your email messages?
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Do you know of any House of Commons or party guidelines
on encryption of MPs' emails? |
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What
is your opinion on the Government's encryption policy? |
Of
the nine MPs that did respond, four were ranked in Equiinet's
E-Privacy Study as having given a "very poor" response
as they either answered none of the questions whatsoever,
or provided information which was more inaccurate than accurate.
Three MPs gave "poor" responses, and the remaining
two were classed as "reasonable".
"This
level of apathy is totally unacceptable," Equiinet's
Founder, Bob Jones, said.
"The
findings are farcical and indicate that the average level
of encryption knowledge of MPs is either inaccurate or insufficient
for forming constructive views on electronic communication
policy matters or for providing assurances with the public
that email exchanged with politicians remains private.
"The
government has made some forthright statements about the importance
of embracing the Internet and it has a duty to lead by example.
"Instead,
it's clear from this exercise that MPs don't understand the
difference in email terms between sending a postcard and a
private letter.
"If
an MP's private communication is on the equivalent of postcard
that anyone can intercept and rewrite, everyone in Britain
stands to suffer," said Jones.
Equiinet
researchers emailed each of the MPs through the standard enquiries
form which appears when names at http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/almsad.htm
are clicked on. The same three questions were then emailed
to each of them, and they were given 14 days to respond. Responses
were logged individually by the research team.
"There
are some fundamental recommendations to come out of this,
which apply to all organisations," Bob Jones continued.
"Encryption
requires clear operational policies that are communicated
throughout the organisation, levels of required privacy must
be established for email and basic training on how to make
emails private is essential.
"Encryption
should be as second nature as marking an envelope as private
and confidential," Jones concluded.
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