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   Ireland wants an encryption backdoor  but privacy experts urge authorities to   
   "reconsider their plans"   
      
   Date:   
   Tue, 14 Oct 2025 08:47:04 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   A fervent supporter of mandatory chat scanning in the EU, Ireland also seeks   
   to give police access to encrypted messaging apps.   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
   The Irish government needs to protect end-to-end encryption by reconsidering   
   its plans to backdoor encrypted communications and changing its position at   
   the EU level.    
      
   This is the pledge from a coalition of privacy experts, including over 30   
   signatories among civil society organizations, companies, and cybersecurity   
   experts, including members of the Global Encryption Coalition.    
      
   "Any country that undermines encryption risks threatening the privacy and   
   security of people far beyond its borders. But Ireland, as host to the EU   
   headquarters of major tech companies including Apple and Meta, bears   
   particular responsibility," reads the open letter .    
      
   In a July speech , Ireland's Minister for Justice, Jim OCallaghan, made it   
   clear the government's intention to address the issues that new technologies,   
   such as encrypted messaging apps, pose to the lawful interception of data for   
   law enforcement.    
      
   As per the latest data , Ireland is also among the 12 member states to back   
   the controversial Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (CSAR) bill, which would   
   require all messaging apps operating in Europe to scan all URLs, pictures,    
   and videos shared by their users in the lookout for child sexual abuse   
   material (CSAM).    
      
   While the latest vote on Chat Control has now been delayed, the push for an   
   encryption backdoor remains strong in both Ireland and the European bloc  and   
   experts are concerned.   
      
   A national security issue    
      
   According to OCallaghan, the Irish police (An Garda Sochna) need to be able    
   to access encrypted communications to enable authorities to catch criminals   
   and guarantee citizens' security.    
      
   Yet, " Weakening encryption would put both individuals and businesses at   
   greater risk of scams, fraud, identity theft, and other cybercrime. It would   
   also make sensitive data more vulnerable to foreign cyberattacks and    
   undermine national security," warn experts.    
      
   Encryption is the technology that messaging apps, secure email, and the best   
   VPN services use to scramble the content of messages into an unreadable form,   
   preventing unauthorized access.    
      
   A backdoor for law enforcement, experts explain, would inevitably create an   
   entry point to all users' data that anyone could exploit, including    
   criminals, hackers, and hostile state actors.    
      
   "It is a misguided belief that encrypted services can be weakened solely for   
   good guys," experts wrote.   
      
   Not only would weakening encryption create security vulnerabilities, but such   
   a backdoor also seems to be incompatible with how tech providers build their   
   products.    
      
   Signal is among the encrypted messaging providers saying that they would   
   rather leave the market than comply with similar proposals.    
      
   Talking to TechRadar, Director of Government Affairs and Advocacy at the   
   Internet Society, Callum Voge, was surprised about Ireland's stance, given   
   that the country hosts big tech players like Apple and Meta.    
      
   He said: "You would expect that Ireland would not want to push Big Tech firms   
   away by making a hostile environment for them. So, we'll see how the debate   
   goes."   
      
   Chat Control and beyond    
      
   While the work on the proposed Communications, Interception and Lawful Access   
   Bill is expected to begin in the coming months, the Irish government is also    
   a fervent supporter of mandatory chat scanning in the EU .    
      
   "This looks like a pattern we are seeing in Europe," Voge told TechRadar,   
   mentioning a similar push for adding an encryption backdoor provision that   
   failed in France and Sweden this year.    
      
   According to Voge, this pattern also confirms what experts have long worried   
   about  the scope creep behind these laws.    
      
   "In the EU, they're talking about breaking encryption for the reason of   
   protecting children. While in France, it was about drug trafficking. In   
   Ireland, we don't have the text yet, but it seems to be something very    
   broad," said Voge.    
      
   While it remains to be seen what the Danish Presidency will decide about the   
   Chat Control proposal, the baton is set to pass on to Ireland next July.    
   Would the Irish be the ones to pick up from where the Danes left off?   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/ireland-wants-an-encryption   
   -backdoor-but-privacy-experts-urge-authorities-to-reconsider-their-plans   
      
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