A Bill to amend the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 to increase the penalty where a person fails to comply with a notice requiring disclosure of protected material where it is likely that the material contains an indecent photograph of a child or where the offender has been previously convicted of a sexual offence involving images of children; and for connected purposes.
Law enforcement agencies have become increasingly concerned that encryption is being used to hide indecent photographs of children. This Bill aims to give greater protection to children by raising the penalty for failing to provide the 'key' to encrypted data to the police when requested. It would also make the offence of refusing to provide the key subject to notification requirements when the provisions of the Bill apply. The higher penalty would apply in one of three defined circumstances:where the offender has been previously convicted of a 'relevant sexual offence'where the offender is currently in possession of an indecent photograph of a child although he has not yet been prosecuted for itwhere the court is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the protected data is likely to include an indecent photograph of a child.
House of Commons
14 October 2009
May contain errors — check source documents for definitive information.
This Bill would change the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 to raise penalties for refusing to disclose encryption keys to the police when the data they request may contain a child’s indecent photograph. It also introduces a notification requirement for those offences and sets out when the higher penalty would apply—if the person has a prior relevant sexual offence involving children, if they currently possess such material, or if a court believes the data is likely to contain it. The aim is to strengthen protections for children by making it harder to hide material with encryption.
The Bill is currently at the 2nd reading in the House of Commons, having originated in the Commons. It has not yet progressed to later stages.
Generated 21 February 2026
21 Jan 2009
This Bill was presented, through the ballot procedure, to Parliament on 21 January. This is known as First Reading and there was no debate on the Bill at this stage.
The Bill has been dropped by its sponsor and will make no further progress this Session.
No recorded votes for this bill yet.
