France Arrested Pavel. The UK Signals Signal: What Might Follow?
December 23, 2025
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
As a dinobaby, I play no part in the machinations of those in the encrypted messaging arena. On one side, are those who argue that encryption helps preserve a human “right” to privacy. On the other hand, are those who say, “Money laundering, kiddie pix, drugs, and terrorism threaten everything.” You will have to pick your side. That decision will dictate how you interpret the allegedly actual factual information in “Creating Apps Like Signal or WhatsApp Could Be Hostile Activity, Claims UK Watchdog.”
An American technology company leader looks at a UK prison and asks the obvious question. The officers escort the tech titan to the new cell. Thanks, Venice.ai. Close enough for a single horse shoe.
“Hostile activity” suggests bad things will happen if a certain behavior persists. These include:
- Fines
- Prohibitions on an online service in a country (this is popular in Iran among other nation states)
- Potential legal hassles (a Heathrow holding cell is probably the Ritz compared to HMP Woodhill)
The write up reports:
Developers of apps that use end-to-end encryption to protect private communications could be considered hostile actors in the UK.
That is the stark warning from Jonathan Hall KC, the government’s Independent Reviewer of State Threats Legislation and Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation
I interpret this as a helpful summary of a UK government brief titled State Threats Legislation in 2024. The timing of Mr. Hall’s observation may “signal” an overt action. That step may not be on the scale of the French arrest of a Russian with a French passport, but it will definitely create a bit of a stir in the American encrypted messaging sector. Believe it or not, the UK is not thrilled with some organizations’ reluctance to provide information relevant to certain UK legal matters.
In my experience, applying the standard “oh, we didn’t get the email” or “we’ll get back to you, thanks” is unlikely to work for certain UK government entities. Although unfailingly polite, there are some individuals who learned quite particular skills in specialized training. The approach, like the French action, can cause surprise among the individuals identified as problematic.
With certain international tensions rising, the UK may seize an opportunity to apply both PR and legal pressure to overcome what may be seen an impolite and ill advised behavior by certain American companies in the end to end encrypted messaging business.
The article “Creating Apps Like Signal” points out:
In his independent review of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act and the newly implemented National Security Act, Hall KC highlights the incredibly broad scope of powers granted to authorities.
The article adds:
While the report’s strong wording may come as a shock, it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Encrypted apps are increasingly in the crosshairs of UK lawmakers, with several pieces of legislation targeting the technology. Most notably, Apple was served with a technical capability notice under the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) demanding it weaken the encryption protecting iCloud data. That legal standoff led the tech giant to disable its Advanced Data Protection instead of creating a backdoor.
What will the US companies do? I learned from the write up:
With the battle lines drawn, we can expect a challenging year ahead for services like Signal and WhatsApp. Both companies have previously pledged to leave the UK market rather than compromise their users’ privacy and security.
My hunch is that more European countries may look at France’s action and the “signals” emanating from the UK and conclude, “We too can take steps to deal with the American companies.”
Stephen E Arnold, December 23, 2025
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