Thursday

30th Mar 2023

EU Commission mulls police access to encrypted apps

  • EU Commission wants a regulation on encyrption (Photo: Yuri Samoilov)

The European Commission may introduce new EU-rules on end-to-end encryption, possibly allowing police to crack into platforms like WhatsApp or Signal.

"In my view, we need EU regulation in this area but this is why we need to find a right balance before we come with any proposals on that," Ylva Johansson, the EU home affairs commissioner, told reporters on Wednesday (8 December).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

When pressed, Johansson would not dismiss ideas of allowing police access. She added any discussion on the issue needs to be held "in full transparency."

Her views were echoed by European Commission vice-president Margaritis Schinas.

"I do not see as incompatible the quest for security and our interest to catch the bad guys," he said, noting a balance needs to be struck to ensure rights are respected.

Striking that balance has put civil society on edge.

Inserting backdoors into such platforms, critics say, could make the lives of human right defenders and journalists in authoritarian states much more precarious.

Others say law enforcement can also gain access, by instead demanding courts to release information stored on both servers and end devices.

"Any effort to mandate security flaws in technical systems will empower criminals and malicious state actors," warned NGOs Access Now and the European Digital Rights, in a joint statement.

But EU member states are piling on the pressure anyway.

The council, representing member states, introduced a draft resolution on encryption last month.

It defended the need for strong encryption but also stated that law enforcement "must be able to access data in a lawful and targeted manner."

That has put the commission in a wait-and-see mode.

"Let's wait first for the resolution to be voted and then we will see what is there," said Schinas.

Grim increase in online child sex-abuse

The whole comes amid wider debate on allowing social media platforms like Facebook and Google to track down and remove child sexual abuse content.

New EU wide rules under the so-called ePrivacy Directive, scheduled to take affect on 20 December, will make that task more difficult.

The European Commission has since introduced temporary derogations, currently being debated among the co-legislators, that would allow them to continue tracking and removing the content.

Reports of online child sexual abuse in the EU have increased from 23,000 in 2010 to more than 725,000 in 2019, says the commission.

"If we do not take measures with new temporary legislation, they cannot continue to detect this material, report it and take it down," said Johansson, adding a "more permanent solution" is needed.

Privacy issues are complicating the efforts.

The European Data Protection Supervisor weighed in on the issue last month, noting "confidentiality of communications is a cornerstone of the fundamental rights to respect for private and family life."

They said even voluntary measures by private companies constitute an interference with these rights and warned against the adoption of the commission's derogations on the rules.

Meanwhile, an EU directive introduced in 2011 on combating child abuse, has been fully implemented into national by only two EU states.

EU to target migrant integration and encrypted apps

Migrants ought to learn EU languages and "integrate" their children, while encrypted messaging apps should give keys to authorities to combat terrorism, EU ministers are preparing to say.

Exclusive

Sweden waters down EU press-freedom law

Press-freedom groups from Paris to New York have voiced dismay at Sweden's proposal to weaken a landmark EU law against corporate and political bullies.

Top EU prosecutor wants elite corps of specialised investigators

Europe's top prosecutor Laura Kovesi wants to create an elite corps of highly-specialised financial fraud investigators. The demand came in Kovesi's introduction to the annual report published by the Luxembourg-based European Public Prosector's Office.

Opinion

Why can't we stop marches glorifying Nazism on EU streets?

Every year, neo-Nazis come together to pay tribute to Nazi war criminals and their collaborators, from Benito Mussolini to Rudolf Hess, Ante Pavelić, Hristo Lukov, and of course Adolf Hitler, in events that have become rituals on the extreme-right calendar.

Latest News

  1. The overlooked 'crimes against children' ICC arrest warrant
  2. EU approves 2035 phaseout of polluting cars and vans
  3. New measures to shield the EU against money laundering
  4. What does China really want? Perhaps we could try asking
  5. Dear EU, the science is clear: burning wood for energy is bad
  6. Biden's 'democracy summit' poses questions for EU identity
  7. Finnish elections and Hungary's Nato vote in focus This WEEK
  8. EU's new critical raw materials act could be a recipe for conflict

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Azerbaijan Embassy9th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting and 1st Green Energy Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting
  2. EFBWWEU Social Dialogue review – publication of the European Commission package and joint statement of ETUFs
  3. Oxfam InternationalPan Africa Program Progress Report 2022 - Post Covid and Beyond
  4. WWFWWF Living Planet Report
  5. Europan Patent OfficeHydrogen patents for a clean energy future: A global trend analysis of innovation along hydrogen value chains

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us