On April 11, 2018, the Article 29 Working Party (WP29) published a statement on encryption and their impact on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of their personal data in the EU.
According to WP29, the availability of strong and efficient encryption is a necessity in order to guarantee the protection of individuals.
Considering the different interests at stake, WP29 highlighted the following:
- strong encryption is required to ensure a secure, free flow of data between citizens, businesses and governments in the modern digitalized world;
- backdoors and master keys deprive encryption of its utility and cannot be used in a secure manner. It can never be safe to compel encryption providers to include master keys and backdoors in their software;
- law enforcement agencies have a number of legal powers and targeted tools to address the challenge of encryption, allowing them to access the data they need to investigate and prosecute criminals. Such access must remain proportionate and targeted.
The statement on encryption and their impact on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of their personal data in the EU is available at http://ec.europa.eu…
For more information on the European approach to disciplining privacy, contact Francesca Giannoni-Crystal and Federica Romanelli
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