Electronic surveillance

EU ministers look to tighten up privacy – JUST KIDDING – surveillance laws

European ministers are debating a clampdown on encryption and a further increase in surveillance in response to mounting terrorist threats.

Bernard Cazeneuve, France’s interior minister is due to meet his German counterpart, Thomas de Maizere, to discuss possible regulations to limit the use of encrypted communications across the EU. “It’s a central issue in the fight against terrorism,” Cazeneuve told reporters, the FT reports.

France has tabled surveillance laws that incurred the wrath of privacy campaigners. Germany has been a bulwark in favour of privacy but there is a sense this may change - or at least be up for debate in the wake of recent terrorist incidents in the country. This is despite the fact that encrypted communications failed to feature as an element in what have essentially been lone wolf attacks.