LEurope, hit by the war in Ukraine for almost two years, has been experiencing for several weeks an intensification of the terrorist threat following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas.
In this extremely tense geopolitical context, the interview with the Minister of the Interior, October 19, on BFM on access to data and encrypted messaging conversations has brought back to the table the question opposing in a binary manner, the protection of privacy and the need for security.
The fundamental question is not so much the debate on the unlikely negotiation of access to encrypted messaging for the general public as the strict control of the use, sale and export of cutting-edge surveillance technologies. These, beyond circumventing the issue of encryption, represent a dangerous temptation within the European Union (EU), as recalled Sophie in’t Veld, MEP (Renew, Netherlands), in a speech on November 7 at the European Parliament.
Demand has exploded
After September 11 [2001] and the outbreak of the war on terror by the United States and its allies, the demand for surveillance and intelligence solutions has exploded. A 2016 Privacy International report counts several hundred business creations in this sector over the period 2001-2013, 75% of which come from NATO countries.
The approach, tinged with American “technosolutionism” to respond to the threat, led to the implementation of mass surveillance programs revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013, then an employee of the National Security Agency (NSA). . This further revealed the role of major US platforms in this data collection.
These revelations had two major effects: first, the progressive generalization of encryption, including in consumer solutions, making the authorities more “blind” in technical collection, and encouraging States to have means of circumvention; then the tightening of data protection regulations, through the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), positioning Europe as a standard bearer for the protection of privacy at a global level.
At the same time, the rapid adoption of smartphones, messaging and social networks made it easier to coordinate social movements like the “Arab Spring”, creating greater demand from authoritarian countries for solutions to contain them. The cyber surveillance industry has adapted across the value chain to meet both the domestic and export markets, in a mix of business and foreign policy. This is a drawer market.
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