Europol chief Catherine De Bolle called on big tech companies to cooperate with law enforcement on encryption issues, otherwise “they risk jeopardizing European democracy.” She said companies have a “social responsibility” to provide police with access to encrypted messages used by criminals to maintain anonymity.
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De Bolle plans to meet with company representatives at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “Anonymity is not a fundamental right,” says the head of the EU law enforcement agency. “When we have a search warrant and we’re in front of a house and the door is locked and you know the criminal is inside the house, the community won’t accept that you can’t get in.” The police must be able to decipher the communications of criminals in order to combat crime. “Without this, you cannot ensure democracy,” De Bolle is sure.
There has long been tension between tech companies and law enforcement over the use of end-to-end encryption on messaging platforms, making it difficult for police to obtain evidence in investigations. Last April, European police chiefs called on governments and businesses to take urgent action to ensure that encryption does not interfere with crime investigations.
Technology companies have consistently resisted such legal challenges from law enforcement, arguing that it would compromise the privacy and security of their users. Attempts by companies to collaborate on encryption with law enforcement have been met with stiff opposition from privacy advocates. Some EU member states, including Germany, have also been skeptical about giving law enforcement more access to private communications.
Image source: Europol
Belgian De Bolle, 54, who took over Europol in 2018, also said she wanted to expand the use of artificial intelligence in the agency’s investigations and look at “hybrid threats.” Europol uses its huge data set to help states combat serious and organized crime in areas such as terrorism, drug trafficking and fraud. Over the past six years, the agency has doubled its staff to around 1,700 people.
Last year, Europol, together with the FBI and the US Department of Justice, stopped the activities of the LockBit ransomware group. The agency also played a major role in the fight against drug trafficking in Europe, helping to decipher messages on the EncroChat and Sky ECC platforms used by criminals. Access to these messages has led to numerous criminal cases and thousands of arrests.
Last year, more than 100 people were convicted in the largest criminal trial in Belgian history based on evidence obtained from the Sky ECC transcript. Several more cases related to decryption of messages are expected to be considered in the near future. In March, Europol plans to publish its analysis of crime over the past four years.