RIP Part III Consultation

[Brian Gladman]

Simon Watkin has just announced the RIPA Part III consultation, the
relevant material being here:

  http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/cons-2006-ripa-part3/

So far I have only read this very quickly but I did not see any clear
statements about a key owners freedom to revoke keys subject to seizure.

It is possible that I missed this so I would be interested in whether
others can see where there are explicit assurances that: (a) the seizure
of keys places no constraints whatsoever on the owner of the key(s) in
question in respect of their revocation, and (b) the unqualified act of
key revocation does not of itself constitute tipping off.

These are assurances that we were given by Simon at the time that RIPA
was enacted.

There are good provisions that ensure that only session keys need be
revealed when a single message is required but no clear protection that
I could see on a quick read to avoid wordings on seizure notices that
could only be met by disclosing longer term keys.

   Brian Gladman