UK leader wants Obama to denounce full encryption

British Prime Minister David Cameron is taking his campaign against encrypted communication to the White House.

During a White House dinner Thursday and confab with President Obama Friday, Cameron is expected to press Obama to more publicly denounce the heightened encryption recently adopted by major tech companies like Facebook, Apple and Google, The Wall Street Journal reported.

{mosads}The meetings wrap up a week of cybersecurity for the White House, which rolled out legislative proposals intended to secure student data, create a federal data breach notification requirement and enable cyber threat information-sharing between the public and private sectors.

Cameron has focused on cybersecurity this week as well, but from a different perspective. The British leader on Monday threatened to ban encrypted messaging services like Snapchat and WhatsApp in the United Kingdom if they don’t agree to provide access for Britain’s intelligence services.

Government access to encrypted devices has also been a contentious issue in the U.S..

Following government leaker Edward Snowden’s disclosure of secret U.S. spy programs, tech companies quickly moved to encrypt their email, text and messaging services.

The FBI has criticized Apple for its new operating system, which locks out law enforcement officials from accessing data on a smartphone, even when armed with a warrant. The Justice Department has also attempted to force companies to assist law enforcement in decrypting devices.

The White House, however, has not been vocal on the issue.