Statewatch published an article on leaked notes from a meeting between senior EU and US officials that reveal alarming plans to undermine encryption and create a de facto “access by design” for law enforcement agencies (LEAs). The leak reveals that authorities want to influence public opinion around “law enforcement’s legitimacy to investigate” encrypted communications.

After that nine civil society organisations, including Statewatch and EDRi wrote to the European Commission (letter via EDRi) to urge caution and resist the “clear and deliberate plans to disregard international human rights standards” in particular with regard to end-to-end-encryption.

The letter is signed by European organisations, European Digital Rights (EDRi) and Centre for Democracy and Technology Europe (CDT Europe); by the international organisation Statewatch and by the following national organisations:

• ApTi (Romania)
• Bits of Freedom (Netherlands)
• Chaos Computer Club (Germany)
• Digitalcourage (Germany)
• Digitale Gesellschaft (Germany)
• Homo Digitalis (Greece)

The attack on encryption has been going on for a long time, read on this blog Plannen om de robuuste versleuteling op internet te ondermijnen zijn onveilig en gevaarlijk, aldus Arnbak