Mass surveillance and encryption backdoors have no future in Europe

Today, 20 February, in a public consultation at the European Commission, the EDRi network calls on EU lawmakers to end all attempts to normalise dangerous surveillance practices that rip people off their safety and privacy online.

Our network is the key digital rights voice in Europe. We amplify the expertise of technology and privacy professionals as well as the lived experiences of people in vulnerable positions like activists, young people, racialised groups and women in the digital spaces. Based on our 20-year experience in the field, we know that surveillance measures like the ones the European Commission’s High Level Group (HLG) “Going Dark” could undertake will tamper with encryption, creating security and privacy threats for millions of people, public institutions and the broader digital information ecosystem.

The group, chaired by the European Commission and the Presidency of the Council, is tasked to draft recommendations for future EU policies and legislation to increase law enforcement access to data.

That’s why today EDRi along with Privacy International, Statewatch, IT-Pol Denmark and other EDRi members are taking part in a consultation of the HLG to emphasise that protecting people’s privacy and data protection is essential for ensuring their safety. Measures like mass data retention could never lead to the construction of safe digital spaces.

Regardless of the results of this process, the EDRi network will continue to fight against all attempts to legalise and implement unlawful and dangerous surveillance practices. We will keep on mobilising, litigating and advocatying against abuses of power.