Web Inventor Slams US-UK Internet Plans, Cites Privacy Concerns

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, has voiced concerns over recent Internet policies adopted by the US and UK, and vows to fight them, BBC News reports. Sir Tim will be conferred with the Turing Award, the most prestigious recognition in computing world, in June 2017.

Criticizing the UK's recent decision to weaken encryption, Sir Tim says: "Now I know that if you're trying to catch terrorists it's really tempting to demand to be able to break all that encryption but if you break that encryption then guess what - so could other people and guess what - they may end up getting better at it than you are."

He belittled the recent Investigatory Powers Act in the UK, saying it's "appaling" to think all ISPs should be required to spy on citizens and store their data for six months. In the US, he added, if the Federal Communications Commission attempted to reduce net neutrality, he would fight it.

Sir Tim expressed shock at US legislators' vote to scrap laws preventing the sale of user data by ISPs, saying, "We're talking about it being just a human right that my ability to communicate with people on the web, to go to websites I want without being spied on is really, really crucial."

Read the full story on BBC News.