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   "A dangerous approach"  Experts urge the Swedish Parliament to reject the   
   encryption backdoor law   
      
   Date:   
   Wed, 09 Apr 2025 15:36:24 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   Sweden is considering enforcing new obligations for Signal, emails, and   
   similar services to share users' data with law enforcement. Experts warn what   
   can go wrong.   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
   Over 200 experts have called on the Swedish Parliament to reject a proposed   
   law that would force the likes of Signal, WhatsApp, and email service   
   providers to create an encryption backdoor in their software.    
      
   The draft bill seeks to introduce new obligations on data retention and    
   access to electronic information for law enforcement while "ensuring respect   
   for fundamental rights and freedoms."    
      
   Yet, the coalition, made up of some of the best VPN and secure email service   
   providers, cryptographers, and digital rights advocates, warns that the new   
   rules "would greatly undermine the security and privacy of Swedish citizens"   
   instead.   
      
   The security risk of weakening encryption    
      
   As experts pointed out in a joint open letter published on April 8, 2025,    
   "the legislation presents a dangerous approach which would instead create   
   vulnerabilities that criminals and other malicious actors could readily   
   exploit."    
      
    Encryption refers to the scrambling of data, making it unreadable and   
   preventing third-party access. Specifically, end-to-end encryption (E2E) is   
   the technical infrastructure that encrypted messaging apps use to keep your   
   messages private between you and the receiver, end to end.    
      
   The proposed Swedish legislation seeks to make it easier for law enforcement   
   to fight crime by forcing companies to store and provide access to people's   
   private communication upon request.    
      
   However, experts have long argued that this isn't possible without creating a   
   backdoor that fundamentally breaks the security infrastructure upon which   
   encryption is built.    
      
   It's like building "a master key that unlocks every door in a building,"    
   noted the coalition, adding that "compromising encryption would leave Swedens   
   citizens and institutions less safe than before."   
      
   The Swedish Armed Forces also echoed such security concerns, arguing that the   
   proposed new requirements for E2E services "cannot be fulfilled without   
   introducing vulnerabilities and backdoors that third parties can exploit."    
      
   In February, the Swedish Army even endorsed the use of Signal among its   
   employees to make it more difficult for non-classified calls and messages to   
   be intercepted.    
      
   Outside Sweden, recent events like the Salt Typhoon attack on all the major    
   US telecoms have also sparked a pledge for all citizens to switch to    
   encrypted services .    
      
   Ironically, though, Signal President Meredith Whittaker already said the   
   company would rather leave Sweden than undermine its encryption protections.    
      
   If the bill passes, the new rules could be enforced as early as March 2026.    
      
   Experts are now calling on the Swedish Parliament to reject the law and   
   prioritize policies that strengthen rather than weaken cybersecurity. They   
   wrote: "Sweden's security, prosperity, and freedom depend on it." Not only   
   Sweden    
      
   Sweden isn't the only EU member striving to make people's data more easily   
   accessible to authorities during investigations.    
      
   After over three years of trying to pass a law to scan all citizens' messages   
   in the hunt for child sexual abuse material (CSAM)  what's known as Chat   
   Control by its critics  the EU Commission just published a new strategy on   
   encryption backdoors and lawful data access.    
      
   Outside the EU, Apple is currently facing the UK in court over the request to   
   make iCloud's encrypted data accessible at all times by law enforcement.    
      
   Once believed to be a privacy paradise, even Switzerland now wants to amend   
   its surveillance law to add new types of monitoring and information   
   collection. A change that would widen the authorities' reach to no-log VPNs   
   and other secure messaging providers.   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/a-dangerous-approach-expert   
   s-urge-the-swedish-parliament-to-reject-the-encryption-backdoor-law   
      
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