- Around 40 organizations and 40+ individuals are urging the EU not to undermine encryption with the new ProtectEU plan
- Experts are asking to have a key role in defining the block’s technology roadmap on encryption
- ProtectEU comes as yet another attempt to create a backdoor into encrypted messages
Around 40 organizations and 40+ individuals are urging EU lawmakers not to undermine encryption.
In an open letter published on May 5, 2025, the experts are asking to have a key role in defining the block’s technology roadmap on encryption included in the ProtectEU strategy unveiled last April.
ProtectEU is the first step in the EU Commission’s strategy to lawful and effective access to data for law enforcement. Yet, according to the experts, it comes as another iteration of the divisive Chat Control proposal that has been seeking to introduce backdoors in encrypted messaging apps since 2022.
“No technical silver bullet”
Encryption refers to the scrambling of data into an unreadable form to prevent unwanted access. The likes of Signal, WhatsApp, and secure email providers use end-to-end encryption to ensure your messages remain private between the sender and receiver.
According to law enforcement, though, this level of security prevents police officers from successfully carrying on criminal investigations. The ProtectEU plan then wants to give more tools to law enforcement to lawfully access people’s online data.
Yet, experts have long argued that encryption cannot be weakened safely.
“Strong encryption is essential to protecting human rights and Europe’s digital infrastructure. Any attempt to grant law enforcement exceptional access would introduce dangerous vulnerabilities. There is no technical ‘silver bullet,’ access for the ‘good guys only’ is not possible,” said one of the signatories, Matthias Pfau, CEO of Tuta Mail.
As mentioned earlier, Tuta also pointed out how ProtectEU may come as simply a rebrand of the controversial Chat Control proposal. The bill, which comes as a way to halt the spread of CSAM content online by scanning all people’s communications, has so far failed to attract the needed majority to turn into law.
Together with 39 orgs & 42 experts, our founder @matthiaspfau calls on the EU for a scientific evidence-based approach to #encryption 🔒No government can change the laws of math.Read the open letter ⤵️https://t.co/pdyoSEjoCH pic.twitter.com/VPz3s4XVJlMay 5, 2025
The group, which includes both civil society organizations and individuals specializing in technology and digital rights, is now urging the EU to let them be an active part of the ProtectEU strategy.
They wrote: “Rather than investing more resources and time in systems that are demonstrably causing harm, we firmly believe that all stakeholders need to work together to find long-term solutions (both technical and non-technical) to complex societal issues.
“We further believe that we would be well-positioned to provide expert technical briefings to you, your cabinet, and services, and would be delighted to make ourselves available for this purpose.”
It is worth noting that, while messaging apps and email providers are set to be the main target of lawmakers, the best VPN services could also become the next target.
For the very first time, in fact, a EU expert group explicitly referred to VPN services as “key challenges” to the investigative work of law enforcement agencies, alongside encrypted devices, apps, and new communications operators.
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chiara.castro@futurenet.com (Chiara Castro)
