European police forces demonstrate against the use of end-to-end encryption in instant messaging platforms

Meeting in London last week, 32 directors of European police forces published a joint statement on April 21 on their concern about end-to-end encryption, which is gradually being deployed across several messaging applications. “Companies will no longer be able to respond effectively to the relevant authorities, they write. They will also no longer be able to identify or report illegal activities on their platforms.”

Endangering users, according to the National Crime Agency

The declaration was signed by the 27 EU member states, the United Kingdom, Norway, Swiss, Iceland and Liechtenstein. During the meeting, Graeme Biggar, director general of the National Crime Agency (NCA), the British agency fighting organized crime, clarified: “Encryption can be extremely beneficial, protecting users against a range of crimes. But the brutal and increasingly widespread deployment (…), without sufficient consideration of public safety, puts users at risk.”

Last December, Meta announced the generalization by default of end-to-end encryption for messages and calls on Messenger. This means that only the sender and his recipient can have access to the content of the messages, without the possibility of consultation by Meta. The following week, the Menlo Park firm announced the upcoming arrival of this technology on Instagram. The system has already been available on WhatsApp since 2016.

No more transmission of reports for illegal content

The authorities of different European countries fear that the platforms will no longer be able to become aware of illegal content and will therefore be unable to transmit reports to the police. And this, even if an arrest warrant is issued. The NCA particularly emphasizes that in recent years, “tech companies like Meta have acted responsibly by proactively reporting suspected cases of child sexual abuse”.

The NCA estimates that end-to-end encryption would drive 92% of such reports from Facebook under the radar, and 85% of them from Instagram. European police also fear having more difficulty fighting illegal possession and trafficking of firearms, and drug trafficking.

Europe is tackling the problem head on

“Technology companies have a social responsibility to develop a safer environment, where law enforcement and justice can do their work”, said Catherine de Bolle, executive director of Europol. The joint declaration, however, does not specify the solutions that tech companies could adopt, simply recommending the establishment of a “security by design” by the platforms.

The European Council took up the problem in 2020. It then adopted a resolution on encryption, considering that “competent authorities must be able to access data in a lawful and targeted manner, in full respect of fundamental rights and relevant data protection laws, while ensuring cybersecurity”. Last April, the European body carried out a consultation with 20 member states. 15 of them then considered themselves in favor of scanning protected messages to detect child pornography content, on messaging services such as WhatsApp or Signal.