• End-to-end encryption is a security tool used by some apps and services — including WhatsApp, Signal and Facebook Messenger — to provide a greater level of privacy. 
• Messages sent using this tool are encrypted before they leave the sender’s phone or computer, with a key unique to the devices at either end of an exchange.

WhatsApp and Messenger are highly popular messaging apps.

The EU appears to be laying the groundwork for a move against data that has received end-to-end encryption after a spate of terrorist attacks in Paris, Vienna and Nice. 

In a joint statement released earlier this month, home affairs ministers from EU member states called on heads of state to “consider the matter of data encryption so that digital evidence can be lawfully collected and used by the competent authorities.” 

The statement comes after several EU internal documents on encryption were leaked. One, originally published by Politico, framed measures against end-to-end encryption as a way to fight child abuse, suggesting “the fight against this type of illegal content has been the least controversial.”

End-to-end encryption is a security tool used by some apps and services — including WhatsApp, Signal and Facebook Messenger — to provide a greater level of privacy. 

Messages sent using this tool are encrypted before they leave the sender’s phone or computer, with a key unique to the devices at either end of an exchange. Even if they are intercepted during transmission by a hacker or a government agency, the messages are unreadable, since the only devices able to decode them are those belonging to the sender and the intended recipient.

This secrecy poses a problem for state actors trying to monitor criminal communication: The ability to intercept illicit messages is only useful if you can actually read them.

EU lawmakers have long searched for a fairer balance between privacy and the ability of police agencies to do their jobs, an EU spokesperson told CNBC. 

Member states have, on multiple occasions, “called for solutions that allow law enforcement and other competent authorities to gain lawful access to digital evidence, without prohibiting or weakening encryption.”

As set out in July’s Security Union Strategy, the bloc is in favor of an approach which “both maintains the effectiveness of encryption in protecting privacy and security of communications, while also providing an effective response to serious crime and terrorism.” 

EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove has sought to do this by eschewing a “back-door” approach in favor of what he sees as its “front-door” counterpart, whereby a third party works with, rather than without, the consent of the encryption provider.

Ray Walsh, researcher for privacy education and review site ProPrivacy, says this approach is impossible. “No matter whether you choose to call a purposefully developed secondary access point a ‘front-door’ or a backdoor, the result is the elimination of data ownership and access control which inevitably results in a fundamental vulnerability,” he told CNBC.

“Ministers want to have their cake and eat it, and they don’t seem to understand, or want to acknowledge, that this is impossible and would result in vulnerability by design,” he added.

“If this kind of legislation came to pass it would be hugely detrimental to the general public.”

Alex Clarkson, a lecturer in German and European & international studies at King’s College London, points out that measures like those being discussed have “been an ongoing part of the agenda for governments for a while.” 

Both he and Walsh emphasize that they remain mere discussions at this stage.

Clarkson characterizes the proposals as simply “what bureaucracies do,” part of a political “wish list” made up of a whole range of options. “Some parts of these systems will have an impulse towards these things, and another part of the system will check against it, and balance against it,” he said.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean that they choose those options.”

Still, Walsh is wary that the “back-door” approach is up for debate. “This stands to create problems for national security, and for data privacy, without actually reducing the likelihood that criminals will find covert ways to communicate, either through the dark web or via other encrypted means.” 

“Being able to communicate freely and privately is a fundamental human right in any free and open society,” he says. “Removing the ability for citizens to share information without being observed will lead to greater levels of self-censorship and the inability for people to exercise freedom of expression.”

WWW.VSOFTSYSTEMS.CO..ZA

The current climate of economic and political uncertainty means that wealthier South Africans are moving significant amounts of money out of the country, either through offshore investments or through physical migration, says Tim Powell, forex director at Sable International.

Depending on why you are taking money offshore, Powell said that there are a range of considerations that you need to look at review the following before you go ahead.

As a starting point, Powell suggests you think about key questions such as:

• How much money can you transfer?
• Do you need to open a foreign bank account?
• Where will the money be invested?
• Can you leave your South African bank account open?
• If you emigrate, what do you do with any assets left behind e.g. rental property, shares, retirement annuities?

In terms of SARB exchange control, South Africa residents are entitled to two annual allowances:

• R1 million Discretionary Allowance (DA) – this can be used for travel, gifts, study, alimony and foreign investment without having to apply for tax clearance
• R10 million Foreign Investment Allowance (FIA) – requires tax clearance for foreign investment

“The R1 million DA and R10 million FIA allowances run from 1 January to 31 December,” said Powell.

“Tax clearance applications for foreign investment have been taking longer than normal with Covid, so it is advisable to get applications in as soon as possible. Also, from mid-December SARS tend to go on skeleton staff and the probability of getting approval gets lower the later one leaves their application.”

“Even if you have used your 2020 allowances it’s a great time to get tax clearance and make sure that as early as the first week of January 2021 you can then start utilising your 2021 allowances.”

Powell said that there are generally three types of circumstances in which South Africans will be taking money offshore:

Investing offshore

South Africans living in the country are allowed to have offshore bank accounts and invest offshore. I am still amazed at how many clients still think this isn’t legal, said Powell.

“Establishing an offshore bank account is a relatively straightforward process.We can easily open offshore accounts in the Channel Islands that can be Pound, Dollar or Euro denominated. We can also open some onshore EU accounts.

“Many people wanting to invest offshore may have waited this year to see if there has been any recovery in the Rand after the volatile year we have had ,and now urgently need to put in their applications to make this year’sallowance cut-off.”

For those investing offshore, people often choose to use their bank to move the money, where it may be more cost-effective to use a forex broker, said Powell.

Emigrating

There are those emigrating who are inevitably selling their homes and liquidating assets, said Powell.

He said that those planning to emigrate and move their investments,  should obtain a professional assessment of their personal circumstances, specifically considering:

• Investment allowances
• SARS tax clearance applications for foreign investment
• Emigrating and the cross-border tax implications
• Maintaining bank accounts in SA

“If you leave South AFrica as a family unit (e.g. husband and wife), you would have a R22 million allowance in the year of departure that you could transfer, plus further annual allowances for your children dependent on their ages,” he said.

Powell said that some may need to consider financial emigration if they wish to access their retirement annuity savings.

“It can be a confusing time with all the exchange control rules and the banks are quick to suggest that you financially emigrate. This would require you to complete a form called an MP336 and to close your bank accounts in South Africa, transferring everything into a blocked rand account.

“However, financial emigration is only required in specific circumstances, and you should obtain professional advice from migration specialists before taking any drastic steps,” he said.

He said that other South Africans may need to consider tax emigration. However, he warned that this is a complex  process and each situation needs to be individually assessed.

Investing in Plan B

Powell said that there are also a group of investors staying in South Africa, but looking for a plan B, effectively looking at “investment migration”.

“These are generally high net worth individuals who have ability to invest in countries that have programs that enable residence or citizenship, such as Portugal, USA EB5, Malta or Montenegro,” said Powell.

www.samigration.com

•*The licence grace period has been extended.*

•*Vehicle, learners' and driving licences which expired between 26 March 2020 and 28 February 2021 will be valid until 31 August.*

•*Third party services could renew your vehicle licence on your behalf.

With the latest grace period extension now being stretched once again, motorists can breathe a bit for a few weeks.

Earlier in January, Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula announced that "the validity of learner's and driving licences, vehicle licences, professional driving permits, operating licences, accreditation certificates for tourist services" which have expired from 26 March 2020 to 28 February 2021 will be *deemed valid until 31 August I urge all motorists to rather stay home, and stay safe during these crucial next few weeks as we try to flatten the curve of the pandemic.

If you have comorbidities, I strongly advise to stay home, or make use of alternative means by those offering third party services. If you're in Gauteng or the Free State, you can contact ChatBack via WhatsApp  and send all your documents through the app. Transactions should cost you about R250.

There are also other third party small businesses doing the same all over the country. We don't usually give free punts to businesses, but if we can help our readers find alternatives during this pandemic to relieve the stress of vehicle licence renewals, I sure will do what we can. One such person or small business rendering such a service in the City of Cape Town metropole, is JP Pater.

Pater says: "We can help those that really can't or are afraid to stand in the lines. I have a long list of customers with Covid-19 related issue. It helps; I drop their new disc in their post box, or mail it to them. "If we can continue to do it now for most of the people, at least there wont be those long queues extending for kilometres once the lockdown is over."

He says he currently advertises his services on Facebook and relies on word of mouth. Pater explains: "For me, the most important is customer service, something not found too often these days. To mention but one example, the person who designed my card had three of his vehicles renewed by me. That day it was so busy, he actually called me while on his way to stand in the line, (after seeing my add on Facebook) and I was already in the queue. Stories like this make me LOVE what I do. "When someone contacts me, I ask them what needs to be done, and then offer to supply them with any document they need."

*How it works*

Those who need to renew vehicle licences for their spouse or loved one will need the following (as I would):

1. A signed permission letter to have it done on the vehicle owner's behalf and a copy of the person receiving permission's ID

2. A signed form for the transaction in question

3. A copy of owner's ID

4. Proof of address (this is not always needed, but the day when the system requires a FICA, and you don't have it, the transaction won't proceed).

"Only when the vehicle owner decides to do this themselves, will they basically only need a previous disc or reg paper. Easy as that. Nothing else. "After completion of the transaction, I arrange for delivery or collection of the new disc. For the outbound areas we either use PostNet/Pep or maybe a family/friend that lives close enough.

"I prefer the Strand Licencing department to do most of my transactions (and we stand the queue daily while they are open). They are really moving the lines; they are fair and also very helpful. Doing it all this time, you get to know the people, both working there as well as the ones in the queues. And of course, we know the trees and shade spots by now."

*For Roadworthy, all you need is: *

1. A licenced vehicle (temp permit or up to date licence, not expired)

2. Registration papers

3. Copy of ID of person taking the vehicle in.

www.samigration.com

• After being closed for more than a month, SA's twenty biggest land border posts will reopen on Monday. 
• New rules have been implemented to prevent the "super-spreader" congestion at these posts.

Twenty South African land borders that have been closed for more a month, will re-open on Monday.

On Saturday, cabinet gave the go-ahead for the reopening for these border posts:

South Africa's land borders have been closed since 11 January after large traveller volumes caused massive bottlenecks, particularly at the Beitbridge border with Zimbabwe and Lebombo post with Mozambique. These quickly developed into “super-spreader” events, with more than 100 confirmed Covid-19 cases recorded at Beitbridge border alone.

For the past month, travel into and out of South Africa through these border posts were limited to only a number of reasons - including the transportation of fuel, cargo and goods as well as emergency medical treatment.

A host of new interventions are being implemented to prevent the chaos witnessed over the festive period, including that trucks will be limited to a 700-metre queue.  As soon as the queues become longer than that, trucks will be diverted to rest stops.

More staff have also been deployed and a ticket system adopted to limit the number of Covid-19 tests that can be done at the border posts. 

In addition, the reopening plan includes a crackdown on fake Covid-19 test certificates.

Any person presenting themselves at any of the borders with fake Covid-19 certificates will be denied entry and barred from visiting South Africa for a period of at least five years, said Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi in a statement on Saturday.

Travel regulations require all persons entering South Africa from abroad – whether via land or air – to present a negative Covid-19 test result, and a number of fake tests results have been seized at the borders. 

Motsoaledi will be at the Lebombo border post on Monday, Deputy Minister Njabulo Nzuza at Beitbridge and Director General Tommy Makhode at Maseru Bridge and Ficksburg on Monday, when the land ports of entry reopen.

www.samigration.com

The challenge with the e-visa is not just to try and get it on the level other country's already have.The challenge with the e-visa is not just to try and get it on the levelother country's already have.

In his State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa said work is under way to reform the country's visa regime. Two years ago he mentioned the development of e-visas in his then SONA address.Tourism leaders caution that changes cannot just be the e-visas envisioned in 2019.

The fact that responsibility for developing e-visas for the country has now been moved from the Department of Home Affairs to the Presidency, essentially means it will be getting a "higher focus", according to Sisa Ntshona, CEO of SA Tourism.

In his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday evening, President Cyril Ramaphosa said work is under way with the relevant departments to reform the country's visa and immigration regime, among other things, to grow the tourism sector.

"As international travel starts to recover in the wake of Covid-19, we will undertake a full rollout of e-visas to visitors from China, India,Nigeria, Kenya, and 10 other countries," Ramaphosa announced.

"The challenge with the e-visa is not just to try to get it on the level other country's already have. We need to even surpass that, because the visa regime in the world is going to change. The focus is now on health and the vaccine. Whatever e-visa we introduce, needs to be done quickly and address the needs of travellers, who do not want hassles. We have to be able to not only compete with other destinations in this regard, but outdo them," said Nsthona.

The other important takeout for the tourism industry from this year's SONA, in the view of Ntshona, is the importance of getting a vaccination programme rolled out in the country. "Essentially, international travel to SA will only resume when people again have the confidence to travel, when they get the vaccine.

Destinations with high levels of vaccination will have an advantage from a tourism point of view," explained Ntshona. "SA is lagging behind in this regard and we have some catch-up to do, otherwise we might be classified as a higher-risk destination due to not having a lot of vaccination."

*Buy locally*

A third aspect from SONA which Ntshona regards as important for the tourism industry, is the president's call for South Africans to buy locally. "For the tourism industry we translate that into 'travel locally'. We want people to support the tourism sector, not by giving aid but by doing trade. Those fantastic resorts previously out of reach for all of us, are now within reach as there is currently no international market," he said.

"I am happy with what the president said in SONA. The issue is bigger than just tourism. It is about the economy and tourism is part of the country's economic recovery plan. Our industry we will be able to contribute to the recovery process as obstacles are removed."

Ramaphosa announced that the special Covid-19 Unemployment Insurance Fund Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) benefit will be extended until 15 March 2021, but only for those sectors that have not been able to operate. Specifics around which sectors would be included would be announced at a later stage.

According to Ntshona, the tourism industry should fall within the TERS relief announced by Ramaphosa, because of the impact of the pandemic on the tourism industry. Many businesses have not been able to open or open fully yet, meaning there are still many employees not able to work.  The TERS relief benefit was introduced in March 2020 to allow businesses to continue paying salaries while their doors were closed during the lockdown.

*Industry hopes for vaccination*

Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, CEO of the Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA), which represents the private sector, agrees that the vaccination programme is a key factor for the tourism industry in order to bring a level of trust in SA as destination among international travellers.

Regarding the e-visa announcement, Tshivhengwa says it was already mentioned in SONA 2019.

"Two years down the line we should have been ready with it by now. We were told pilot programmes were done, but that is not sufficient and up to now it has been talk only. We should get e-visas done as part of the tourism recovery. We are already behind what the rest of world is doing. E-visas should be prioritised, and the process moved faster," he said. "If we still think we can stick with the e-visa technology spoken of two years ago, then we are behind. We must look at what the world is looking for and how to synchronise the vaccine in the visa system."

As for the TERS announcement, Tshivhengwa says the TBCSA has been advocating for this through Nedlac and is happy that Ramaphosa acknowledged how much the tourism industry has been affected by the pandemic. 

"Tourism operations were hampered by the liquor bans and curfews. These also impacted the conference industry on top of the impact of restrictions on numbers of people allowed." In the view of Tshivhengwa, the speed of the overhaul of the Government

Guarantee Loan Scheme needs to be increased. 

"When tourism businesses are considered for the scheme, they should be looked at differently as tourism recovery is not going to be in the short term, but rather over the medium to long term. We need certain rules to apply to our industry when tourism industries apply for these loans," he said.

*Decimated*

Enver Duminy, CEO of Cape Town Tourism, was thrilled to hear about the extension of TERS payments. "We wait to hear about the conditions of this extension and the sectors to be included, but we sincerely hope that tourism will be part of it. It is no secret that tourism businesses have suffered greatly during this last year and this will come as a relief to many," he said. "We also welcome the announcement about the plans to reform the visa and immigration policies. Ease of travel to our country will be of massive importance as we try to rebuild our once thriving tourism industry over the next few months and years." He too points out that South Africa will be heavily reliant on a strong

vaccination programme.

"Our once thriving tourism industry has practically been decimated as a result of Covid-19 and the very strict lockdown regulations that have come into play over the last year. We desperately need more support from government to ensure that the industry survives. Feedback from our member businesses is very sobering at this point, with many of them indicating that the adjusted lockdown Level 3 regulations have really taken a toll on any form of recovery."

www.samigration.com