February 15, 2024 at 02:31AM
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that requiring weakened encryption and extensive data retention violates the European Convention on Human Rights. The decision may impact European data surveillance legislation, including Chat Control. This ruling has significant implications for privacy and law enforcement practices, potentially affecting similar laws in Europe.
Based on the meeting notes, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that laws requiring crippled encryption and extensive data retention violate the European Convention on Human Rights. This decision may derail European data surveillance legislation known as Chat Control. The Court concluded that the contested legislation providing for the retention of all internet communications, security services’ direct access to data, and the requirement to decrypt encrypted communications cannot be regarded as necessary in a democratic society. This ruling has implications for countries in Europe considering similar decryption laws, such as Chat Control and the UK government’s Online Safety Act. Furthermore, there has been widespread condemnation of these efforts from academics, privacy-oriented organizations, and civil society groups. Patrick Breyer, a member of the European parliament for the Pirate Party, hailed the ruling as demonstrating that Chat Control is incompatible with EU law. He emphasized that the proposed ‘client-side scanning’ surveillance on all smartphones is clearly illegal and destroys the protection of everyone, rather than investigating suspects. This landmark judgment will likely impact future discussions and developments related to data surveillance legislation in Europe.