Ansip: No ‘black and white’ fix to help police crack encryption
Andrus Ansip, the EU's tech policy chief, insisted today that he is against laws that weaken encryption technology, but also that there is no “black and white” solution to help law enforcement...
View ArticleEU anti-terror czar: ‘The threat is coming from inside Europe’
A year after the Brussels attacks, Gilles de Kerchove told EURACTIV.com about the fast pace of development of EU security policy, calling for the “systematic use of biometrics” and “batch comparison”...
View ArticleEU to propose new rules targeting encrypted apps in June
The European Commission will propose new measures in June to make it easier for police to access data on internet messaging apps like WhatsApp, EU Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová said yesterday (28...
View ArticleGabriel breezes through cozy hearing on way to top EU digital job
Mariya Gabriel, the 38-year-old Bulgarian MEP tipped to become the new EU digital chief, told MEPs during her approval hearing that she wants to “comply” with the European Commission's policy priorities.
View ArticleSeventeen EU leaders ask Tusk for digital talks on ‘highest level’
On the eve of an EU summit, leaders from 17 EU countries have asked European Council President Donald Tusk for highest-level talks on EU digital policy, saying it was the single market’s main engine...
View ArticleGabriel confirmed as new EU digital chief
Mariya Gabriel was confirmed Tuesday (4 July) as the next EU digital Commissioner and will become the youngest person ever to take on a top Commission post.
View ArticleMEPs push cyber security rules as ‘political message’ before EU overhaul
MEPs are pressuring the European Commission to propose new cyber crime rules on hacking vulnerabilities, encryption and information sharing between EU countries, ahead of a legal overhaul planned for...
View ArticleCommission to publish encryption report on 18 October
The European Commission is trying to pull together member states' differing views on security and privacy before it publishes a report on encryption technologies on 18 October.
View ArticleBrussels promises more police access to encrypted data, but no backdoors
The European Commission insisted that it does not want to weaken encryption as part of its latest push to give law enforcement authorities more access to private data.
View ArticleMEPs want human rights safeguard on tech exports
MEPs steering a controversial export control bill through the European Parliament have agreed to apply stricter human rights safeguards for technologies that can be used for online surveillance.
View ArticleNew EU cybersecurity centres slated to research encryption
EU member states are expected to agree Monday (20 November) on a plan to set up new cybersecurity research centres that will focus partly on encryption technologies.
View ArticleTrade MEPs want to scrap all EU export restrictions on encryption
MEPs want the European Commission to remove export control restrictions on technology products that use encryption.
View ArticleMEPs approve export controls tailored to stop government surveillance
MEPs approved stricter rules on Wednesday (17 January) to control how European companies export technologies including software that could be used for surveillance, and any products that may violate...
View ArticleThe story behind the Commission’s new emphasis on encryption
The European Commission has begun taking more decisive steps toward secure, encrypted communications. But while all of these steps may be positive, not all of them are identical.
View Article‘Five Eyes’ alliance demands ways to access encrypted apps
The "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance demanded Sunday that tech companies insert "backdoors" in encrypted apps to allow law enforcement agencies the access they say they need to police online criminality.
View ArticleEuropean police pounce after cracking encrypted phone network
Police said Wednesday (10 March) they had arrested at least 80 people and carried out hundreds of raids in two European countries after shutting down an encrypted phone network used by organised crime...
View ArticleCommission seeks to calm fears over Europol’s decryption platform
The European Commission has issued assurances to MEPs that Europol's new decryption platform will not be used to abuse data protection standards and will maintain closely guarded access rights over the...
View ArticleCommission calls for online ‘battering rams’ to break encryption
The EU executive will help countries work on encryption-breaking for when law enforcement has legal access to the information as part of a strategy to fight organised crime presented on Wednesday (14...
View ArticlePegasus shows no backdoor will be used only by good guys, Proton CEO say
Commenting on a recent cyber-surveillance scandal, a tech leader said encryption has made mass operations impossible and its integrity should be maintained at all costs, but he also pointed to Big...
View ArticlePressure ramps up on Apple to back out from its ‘surveillance’ plan
An open letter signed by more than 90 civil society organisations on Thursday (19 August) urged Apple to abandon its recently announced plan to introduce scanning features to detect child sexual abuse...
View ArticleI confess I’ve got things to hide
In recent years there has been a backlash against encryption by governments and policy makers across the world. However, encryption is critical for our digital society’s safety, writes David...
View ArticleEU anti-child abuse law could open doors for mass surveillance, report says
Security experts warn that the tools used by tech giants to detect child abuse online pose serious security and privacy risks, raising concerns around upcoming EU legislation.
View ArticleWhistleblowers are impossible without encryption, Edward Snowden says
On Global Encryption Day (21 October), Edward Snowden, the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations, defined encryption as a matter of life and death. A day earlier, a coalition of EU...
View ArticleDigital Brief powered by Google: vital encryption, Germany’s coalition talks,...
Welcome to EURACTIV’s Digital Brief, your weekly update on all things digital in the EU. You can subscribe to the newsletter here. “It would have been impossible for me to whistleblow without...
View ArticleDigital Brief powered by Facebook: gig economy, roaming extension, battle of...
Welcome to EURACTIV’s Digital Brief, your weekly update on all things digital in the EU.
View ArticleThe Netherlands provides global hub for child pornography
The European Commission's proposal to fight child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online is still pending, while the EU has become a 'destination of choice' when it comes to hosting such content,...
View ArticleLEAK: Commission to force scanning of communications to combat child pornography
The European Commission is to put forward a generalised scanning obligation for messaging services, according to a draft proposal obtained by EURACTIV.
View ArticleFrench data protection watchdog: Tweaking Google Analytics won’t make it legal
Google Analytics' use is not legal without a new deal that would replace the disgraced EU-US data processing agreement, French data watchdog CNIL recently clarified on its website, which also dashed...
View ArticleEU countries in search of ‘solutions’ over data retention, encryption
Data retention and encryption emerged as the most pressing issues for law enforcement in the EU government's comments on the establishment of a High-Level Expert Group on police access to digital data.
View ArticleChild sexual abuse: leading MEP sceptical of technical limitations
As the European Parliament’s published its draft report on the proposal to fight child sexual abuse material (CSAM), the rapporteur shared with EURACTIV his vision about the key aspects of the file....
View ArticleSwedish presidency circulates full rewrite on law against child sexual abuse
A new compromise text by the Swedish EU Council presidency on the legislative proposal to fight child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online makes significant amendments to the entire text, including the...
View ArticlePoland slams child sexual abuse material regulation as unnecessary
The regulation to fight child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online is unnecessary as there are other regulations for safety on the internet, Paweł Lewandowski, Polish undersecretary of state at the...
View ArticleUK government concedes on Online Safety Bill’s controversial spy clause,...
Following concessions on the UK’s Online Safety Bill, the government has conceded that their controversial wish for platforms to scan messages for harmful content, is not “technically feasible”,...
View ArticleGerman MPs back potential Schrems III, EU Parliament wants to abolish extra...
Welcome to EURACTIV’s Tech Brief, your weekly update on all things digital in the EU. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.
View ArticleEU pushes for common ICT standards with China, Slovak elections test DSA...
Welcome to EURACTIV’s Tech Brief, your weekly update on all things digital in the EU. You can subscribe to the newsletter here. “EU companies told me they face many obstacles and legal uncertainties...
View ArticleOnline media oversight in debate and cyber-awareness month
Welcome to EURACTIV’s Tech Brief, your weekly update on all things digital in the EU. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.
View ArticleEU prepping for post-quantum encryption, part 2
The second episode of the two-part podcast series aims to shed light on the dynamics between the European and the American approach. In a discussion with Heike Hagemeier, an expert at the German...
View ArticleEU Commission’s microtargeting to promote law on child abuse under scrutiny
The European Commission's use of microtargeting techniques to promote its controversial law to prevent the dissemination of child sexual abuse material is under investigation over concerns it might...
View ArticleGlobal Encryption Day 2023: Encryption Empowers Our Lives [Promoted content]
Global Encryption Day (21 October) spotlights the importance of end-to-end encryption in our digital lives. Encryption must be celebrated, not weakened, as could be the case through the European...
View ArticleEU Parliament nails down agreement on child sexual abuse regulation
The main political groups of the EU Parliament reached an agreement on the draft law to prevent the dissemination of online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on Tuesday (24 October).
View ArticleEU Commission’s nameless experts behind its child sexual abuse law
The EU Ombudsman has found a case of maladministration in the European Commission's refusal to provide the list of experts, which it first denied existing, with whom they worked together in drafting...
View ArticleChild sexual abuse: New approach puts focus on Coordinating Authority’s roles
A new approach by the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council to the draft law to detect and remove online child sexual abuse material puts focus on the Coordinating Authority's roles, such as risk...
View ArticleOnline child sexual abuse: New compromise stresses risk assessment,...
A new compromise text by the Belgian Presidency of the European Council, seen by Euractiv, about the draft law to detect and remove online child sexual abuse material (CSAM), puts the focus on risk...
View ArticleEuropol’s declaration against end-to-end encryption reignites debate, sparks...
Europol's recent joint declaration with European police chiefs urges action against end-to-end encryption, citing concerns of possible justice obstruction, amid an ongoing debate about balancing data...
View ArticleEU Parliament recruitment app compromised, encryption debate reignited
Welcome to Euractiv’s Tech Brief, your weekly update on all things digital in the EU.
View ArticleTech file on online child abuse material remains incomplete, risks gridlock
The draft law on detecting and reporting online child sexual abuse material (CSAM), sparking criticism and tension in the past, remains one of the important yet incomplete tech files of the EU,...
View ArticleAudio communications excluded in latest draft of child sexual abuse material law
A new compromise text of the draft law on online child sexual abuse material (CSAM), dated 28 May and seen by Euractiv, excludes audio communications from the scope and tries to strike a new balance...
View ArticleEU nears consensus on child abuse draft law, new agency takes lead on privacy...
A proposed centralised agency to support the detection and removal of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) will also be assessing how to technically preserve privacy while detecting such content in text...
View ArticleDraft law to detect online child sexual abuse material stalled again
The draft law to detect and remove online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) was removed from the agenda of Thursday's (20 June) meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER), who...
View ArticleEU Commission looks to study DMA interoperability, with an eye to extending...
The European Commission aims to study interoperability provisions in the EU's digital competition regulation, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), according to a published tender.
View Article