Lavabit encryption key ruling threatens Internet privacy, EFF argues

A court order forcing former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden's email provider to turn over its master encryption key undermines a critical security feature used by major Internet services, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said.

The EFF, a digital rights watchdog, filed a brief in support of the email provider, Lavabit, in the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Lavabit founder Ladar Levison was found in contempt of court for resisting an order to turn over his company's private SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) key, used to encrypt communications for 400,000 users. He is appealing. The US government is believed to have sought access to the account of Snowden, who gave out a Lavabit email address after arriving in Russia, but he has not been named in the court documents. The EFF argued that the breach of private keys could have a profound effect on the US economy, with service providers likely to move to legal jurisdictions "that afford more protections for privacy and security."