In a joint call, European police authorities are calling for the abolition of end-to-end encryption on chat platforms. Encrypted messages endanger general security.

The call appeared on the Europol website on Sunday evening. European police forces use two arguments to justify abolishing end-to-end encryption. First, it hinders law enforcement’s “fair access” to criminal organizations’ mutual communications. Furthermore, it also leaves the companies behind the chat services themselves toothless when it comes to preventing illegal activity on their platforms.

Chat services like WhatsApp encrypt your chat messages so only the person they are intended for can read the message. Owner Meta strongly claims that he never has access to your messages. The tech company also recently introduced end-to-end encryption for Messenger.

Think about the children

Law enforcement agencies aren’t particularly keen on encryption because they believe it gives criminals free rein on messaging platforms. The “think of the children” argument is often used because end-to-end encryption prevents the distribution of child pornography.

But drug trafficking and terrorism would also benefit from encryption. Catherine De Bolle, CEO of Europol, even goes so far as to say that encryption “will make our homes more dangerous than our streets.”

Balance between privacy and security

There are also good arguments for end-to-end encryption. The intention should not be for the government and police to simply read all of our personal chat messages to make sure you are not a potential terrorist. Privacy and security don’t necessarily have to be mutually exclusive, cybercrime specialist Philippe Van Linthout tells VRT NWS, but also adds that alternatives to end-to-end encryption “will cost a lot of money.”

Europol’s call is reminiscent of the UK’s fight against end-to-end encryption. In September they concluded that an alternative system was not yet viable with current technology, meaning that the Online Security Act was severely weakened. A small victory for data protection advocates, but the final word on end-to-end encryption has not yet been spoken.