London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

The idea raised red flags among investigative journalists and human rights activists across the continent. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

EU Officials Consider Granting Police Access to Encrypted Messages

The European Union is considering a proposal that calls for communication companies such as Signal and WhatsApp to grant law enforcement and judiciary access to encrypted messages, according to a leaked document from the Council of the European Union.
The proposal titled “Draft Council Resolution on Encryption” was drafted days after the November 2 terrorist attack in Vienna and has already drawn criticism from digital rights campaigners.

The document argues that while encryption “is a necessary means of protecting fundamental rights and the digital security of governments, industry and society,” the EU must enable law enforcement and judicial authorities to do their jobs which is often complicated by strong encryption.

While criminals have access to readily available, off-the-shelf encryption solutions designed for legitimate purposes, law enforcement can’t access electronic evidence to effectively fight terrorism, organised crime, child sexual abuse and a variety of cyber-enabled crimes.

Encryption often prevents authorities from collecting electronic evidence despite the fact that the access to such data would be lawful, the paper says. It suggests that the union should join forces with the tech industry to establish back doors into encrypted services, while also establishing legal frameworks to ensure that those would be available to authorities across the EU.

The idea raised red flags across the continent. While encryption has been a tool for criminal and extremist enterprises, it’s also an essential tool for investigative journalists, human rights activists, politicians and anyone whose work requires a certain level of confidentiality.

“Round and round we go,” tweeted Sarah Jamie Lewis, Executive Director at Open Privacy, a Canadian non-profit group that researches privacy and anonymity. She was referring to the ongoing global fight for preserving privacy.

Lewis retweeted her message from a year ago that read: “Privacy is a human right. Encryption is a human right. No qualifiers. No ifs or buts; No reservations or restrictions.”

“The surveillance culture we have created is immoral,” she went on. “No amount of good done with surveillance makes up for the evil that surveillance itself causes.”

According to the draft, delegates can submit “substantive comments accompanied by concrete wording suggestions” by November 12, as the Presidency of the Council of Ministers plans to present the proposal to the European Union’s Committee on Internal Security on November 19.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×