The UK, France, Sweden, and the EU have intensified their attacks on end-to-end encryption, prompting concerns from privacy advocates. Experts describe these recent efforts as the most aggressive seen in years, aiming to undermine the protections that keep private communication secure. This surge comes as US intelligence officials, having previously criticized encryption, shift their stance in the wake of significant cyber breaches. The recent actions reflect a complicated landscape of privacy, security, and government oversight as various countries seek to balance law enforcement needs with citizens’ rights to privacy.
The trend is bleak," says Carmela Troncoso, a longtime privacy and cryptography researcher and scientific director at the Max-Planck Institute for Security and Safety.
Over the past few months, there has been a surge in government and law enforcement efforts that would effectively undermine encryption, privacy advocates, and experts say.
Officials in the UK, France, and Sweden have all made moves since the start of 2025 that could undermine or eliminate the protections of end-to-end encryption.
Despite the mainstream rise of encrypted communication, long-standing threats to weaken encryption keep piling up.
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