Tag Archives: Government eavesdropping

‘High Risk Vendors’ and Government eavesdropping

Last Tuesday, Parliament debated the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property), Bill. Well, actually, it didn’t. Several Tory backbenchers and a Labour shadow Minister hijacked the debate with amendments seeking to exclude ‘High-Risk Vendors’ (by which they mean Huawei) from UK telecoms networks. They did not provide any evidence to support their concerns, and the speeches sometimes bordered on a witch hunt.

Robert Harrison and Paul Reynolds have both written balanced and insightful articles on Huawei for Lib Dem Voice. The Government currently proposes to limit ‘High-Risk Vendors’ to the access network, and 35% market share. In a comment on Paul’s article, I explained how the 5G standards are designed to prevent any eavesdropping within the access network.

There is a well-documented case where an equipment supplier has been compromised by a foreign Government so that it could intercept the secret communications of other nations. But this is neither Huawei nor China: the company is Crypto AG, and the foreign Government is the USA.

Posted in Op-eds | 4 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Simon Robinson
    This is a very good article in terms of highlighting the dilemma facing any chancellor. There are few good ways to raise money, and endless demands to spend mor...
  • Tony Vickers
    I had expected Sir Vince to mention Land Value Tax as Honorary President of ALTER. Especially because the PM is a fan of the idea and there’s no “red line�...
  • David Blake
    I agree with much of what Richard Cripps says - and I've been a member for 54 years. If I wasn't already a member I'm not sure that what the party has become w...
  • Richard Dickson
    Thanks for this. Kindness - to people, businesses, whole communities, our environment and to nature, to our past, present and future - requires us also to be br...
  • Richard Cripps
    I've been a Lib/Lib Dem voter for 50 years. However, I'm finding it more and more difficult to justify this to friends and family (snd sometimes even myself) as...