If you break encryption, you break encryption, period. There is no in between. If you have a backdoor into encrypted communications, it's the end of everything in communications.

You want to access your bank account? Well sone govt tech worker now has your banking credentials and he can simply transfer your money to some offshore account. What? YOU did it using YOUR credentials, so fuck you, your money is gone

And that is about a best case scenario where these encryption backdoors aren't immediately hacked and broken. Once that happens, criminals can basically roam free and do whatever the fuck they want because you can't trust your encrypted communications anymore

It's literally the dumbest idea that has survived for decades now because this comes back year after year after year after...

[–] Scotty@scribe.disroot.org 3 points 5 days ago

Yes, but it is not 'only' some 'government tech worker' but anyone who exploits the vulnerability. I wrote that already in another thread: In 2024, U.S. officials urged U.S. citizens to use encrypted apps after China hacked into the U.S. ISP's wiretap systems.

As the alert reads,

... we have identified that [China-]affiliated actors have compromised networks at multiple telecommunications companies to enable the theft of customer call records data, the compromise of private communications of a limited number of individuals who are primarily involved in government or political activity, and the copying of certain information that was subject to U.S. law enforcement requests pursuant to court orders. We expect our understanding of these compromises to grow as the investigation continues ...

This opens up the road for a lot of malign actors, at home and from abroad.