Security News > 2020 > November > Rights Activists Slam EU Plan for Access to Encrypted Chats
Digital rights campaigners on Monday criticized a proposal by European Union governments that calls for communications companies to provide authorities with access to encrypted messages.
The plan, first reported by Austrian public broadcaster FM4, reflects concern among European countries that police and intelligence services can't easily monitor online chats that use end-to-end encryption, such as Signal or WhatsApp.
German Left party lawmaker Anke Domscheit-Berg accused European governments of using anxiety caused by recent extremist attacks, such as those in France and Austria, as an excuse for greater surveillance measures, and argued that providing authorities with a key to unlock all forms of encrypted communications would pose a grave security risk to all users.
Patrick Breyer, a member of the European Parliament with Germany's Pirate Party, said enabling governments to intercept encrypted communications "Would be the end of secure encryption altogether and would open back doors also for hackers, foreign intelligence, etc."
The proposal, which would still need to be adopted by EU governments later this month, is not legally binding.