Encryption plays a vital role in increasing the overall trust in the Internet and a critical enabler for privacy and security online. Although the EU has traditionally been in favor of strong encryption, the issue of lawful access to encrypted material has recently appeared high up on EU policymakers’ agenda echoing some national initiatives in member states. For instance, the European Commission listed in its July 2020 Security Union Strategy possible solutions to tackle child pornography material which might result in introducing measures that could directly or indirectly weaken encryption.
At the same time, several ongoing EU digital initiatives, such as the Digital Services Act’s IMCO report and the ePrivacy Regulation, as well as recent CJEU rulings, emphasize the importance of end-to-end encryption to securing interpersonal communication. This webinar provided an opportunity to have a dialogue on the role of encryption in securing Europe’s digital future and the upcoming trends and challenges that might impact the use of encryption in the EU.
This webinar took place on Thursday, 19 November 2020 from 14:30 to 16:20 CET (13:30 – 15:20 UTC). It brought together leading EU policymakers, civil society, industry, and other relevant stakeholders to discuss latest developments as well as the future trends concerning encryption in the EU.
The keynote speech was delivered by Mr. Wojciech Wiewiórowski, European Data Protection Supervisor, followed by two panel discussions that explored the conversation surrounding encryption and effective law enforcement (Panel 1), as well as the upcoming trends that would shape the future of encryption in Europe (Panel 2). Visit detailed agenda and speaker’s biographies pages for more information.
Thank you for joining us. If you missed the webinar, or want to experience it again, watch the recording:
