The U.K. government wants telecommunications providers to help it tap their customers' communications, removing any encryption the provider applied. The government's desires are set out in a draft of the regulations obtained by Open Rights Group (ORG), which campaigns for digital civil rights.

"These powers could be directed at companies like WhatsApp to limit their encryption. The regulations would make the demands that [Home Secretary] Amber Rudd made to attack end-to-end encryption a reality. But if the powers are exercised, this will be done in secret," said ORG executive director Jim Killock.



Its requirements will apply to fixed and mobile phone networks, but also the operators of cloud-based messaging services and social networks, according to an analysis of the law by Bird & Bird last November, when the act received royal assent.

Operators with over 10,000 users in the U.K. will have to modify their systems to provide government officials with on-demand access to their customers' communications, according to the draft regulation revealed Friday.

As it will have devastating outcomes, the government may find difficult in enforcing it. Moreover, this new requirement is under analysis by different analysts for further arguments.