France & Germany Plans For Backdoor Encryption

Following the recent news that the technology industry has hit back at proposed plans by France and Germany to force EU member states to backdoor encryption for the police, Jason Ginsberg, Senior Director at Echoworx commented below.

Jason Ginsberg, Senior Director at Echoworx:

“No-one can argue with the fact that if intelligence agencies and the police were able to access and look inside all houses, they would catch more criminals. But is this going too far? We also have to consider how this may be putting the majority of law abiding citizens at risk. European lawmakers need to remember that cyber-surveillance is no different than old school wire-tapping. However, the government requires court approval for a wiretap and only after they have demonstrated evidence of reasonable suspicion. They should not be allowed to circumvent existing laws based on type of media being surveilled. These laws were put in place to protect the average person from this kind of intrusion. The same rules should apply regardless of whether its phone conversations or web and social media use being tapped. There is a balance that needs to be struck but it is absolutely vital that there is appropriate judicial oversight dictating the use of these powers.”