The inventor of the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has criticised spy agencies for cracking much of the online encryption used to guard data privacy.
Widespread spying by the US National Security Agency and the GCHQ in Britain has been revealed by Edward Snowden, a former US security contractor who is now in Russia.
Mr Berners-Lee said the spy agencies had weakened online security, undermining efforts to fight cybercrime and cyberwarfare. He called it appalling and foolish.