Two experts from GCHQ and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) have published a paper which outlines ways that children can be protected from online sex abuse on encrypted platforms like WhatsApp.

NCSC technical director Dr Ian Levy and GCHQ technical director for cryptanalysis Crispin Robinson have suggested a number of technology-based methods which could help detect sexual abuse content without breaking the encryption of messaging sites or platforms.

The report talks about how end-to-end encryption and similar technologies have broken many of the mitigations in place to protect children against online harms and has led to a debate around the apparent dichotomy of good child safety.

Suggestions identifying a conversation as likely to present a significant risk of grooming for sexual abuse, flagging this to the potential victim, and giving them an opportunity to report the conversation for moderation.

“We hope this paper will help the debate around combating child sexual abuse on end-to-end encrypted services, for the first time setting out clearly the details and complexities of the problem,” wrote the authors. “We hope to show that the dual dystopian futures of safe spaces for child abusers and insecurity by default for all are neither necessary or inevitable.

“We have written this paper having spent many years combating child abuse, but also in the technical domains of cryptography and computer security.”

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