Europol becomes latest law enforcement group to plead with big tech to ditch E2EE

Europol becomes latest law enforcement group to plead with big tech to ditch E2EE

April 22, 2024 at 12:37PM

Europol has urged an end to end-to-end encryption (E2EE) implementation, citing concerns about hampering police investigations. The joint declaration of European police chiefs emphasizes the need for lawful access to private messages and criticizes E2EE for hindering the prevention of crimes like terrorism, child abuse, and drug smuggling. Europol’s stance clashes with Meta’s E2EE rollout.

The meeting notes discuss Europol’s stance against end-to-end encryption (E2EE), advocating for lawful access to private messages to combat crimes such as terrorism, human trafficking, and child sexual abuse. Europol emphasizes the need for tech companies to enable scanning of private messages, while Meta defends its E2EE implementation, stating that creating encryption back doors would compromise user trust and privacy. Europol urges the tech industry to prioritize both user privacy and law enforcement access to private communications. Meta asserts that it has developed safety measures to detect and take action against illicit material while maintaining online privacy and security, and it is unwilling to compromise encryption for law enforcement access.

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