Snooping law to fuel UK exodus

The Government is being warned that its plans to push through a new snoopers’ charter – under the Investigatory Powers Bill – could lead to an exodus of financial services and tech firms which fear they will be crippled by its demands.
The warning follows the decision by Eris Industries and Ind.ie, which both specialise in encryption software for big business, to pull out of the UK.
Under the proposed legislation, companies using encryption software will be forced to include a so-called “back door” into the software, allowing the likes of MI5 and GCHQ to see information held by businesses.
Analysts warn the move will trigger falling sales for those companies making the software programs, and for financial services who need to keep customers’ data safe. They claim many will be forced to relocate overseas.
And Duncan Chapple, a researcher at Edinburgh University who specialises in tech security, said the two firms which have already announced palsn to leave are likely to be the first of many.
He told The National: “There will certainly be organisations concerned that their business transactions will be more open to Government oversight. It seems very sensible to start thinking about moving servers to another country.”
He also warned that it could have a direct impact on inward investment: “Not only if you’re a British company, but also, perhaps more so, if you are the British subsidiary of a foreign business, with which an important British business competes then you will be concerned about becoming a target of commercial spying which the British state does to serve British industries.”