The new law will still enable the security forces to demand the keys to encrypted data, but the government has apparently now stated that the usual procedure will be to obtain a plain text printout of the material in question. It remains to be seen how this constitutes a significant change.
The existing wording of the Bill, which has caused much controversy, states that a person required to disclose a key can instead provide the encrypted data in an intelligible form. Accordingly, the key need not be surrendered unless, according to the Bill in its present form, the person demanding the key considers a plain text print out of the data insufficient. The detail of the proposed amendments is not yet clear, but the new announcement on plain-text versions would seem to be an insignificant variation on the existing Bill.
The Home Office has also said that company directors will now be informed if encryption keys are demanded and that decryption notices will always say who has authorised them, to calm fears of fake notices. Again, this latter proposal may seem an ambiguous concession; the original wording of the Bill made no suggestion that notices would be in any way anonymous.
The Bill is being debated today in the House of Lords.