Paper leaked:

The EU’s secret plan to monitor our cell phones

Investigators want to soften encryption in order to be able to eavesdrop on criminals. But this would also jeopardize the security of all other users.

(Bild: APA/EPA/RALF HIRSCHBERGER)

Europe's governments want more insight into what happens on citizens' cell phones. Under the keyword "chat control", the EU states now want to fulfill this wish, which is also cherished by the domestic intelligence service DSN. The course is already being set in secret committees.

Since US whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed the mass surveillance of the US secret service NSA a decade ago, most messengers on smartphones rely on end-to-end encryption - and can no longer see what users send each other. This is unpopular with government surveillance agencies, as it deprives them of the opportunity to look into the messenger apps on citizens' cell phones. For years, they have been calling for backdoors in encryption and automatic scans for illegal content. For investigators, this is a legitimate law enforcement tool, but data protectionists warn against mass surveillance without cause - and before the EU elections, the debate was considered deadlocked. Now, however, a secret protocol has emerged that shows how several EU states - including Austria - are pushing for the introduction of chat surveillance in a secret committee.