The Dutch government is working on a plan to weaken encryption, anonymous sources tell the NOS. The next cabinet must make a final decision on this.
Officials from the Ministry of Justice and Security are making plans to weaken the security of encrypted chat applications, such as WhatsApp and Signal. People can still chat with each other without the government watching, but the risk is of course that criminals can exchange sensitive information without fear. So it has pros and cons.
The sources said that this issue should be dealt with by the new cabinet after the elections. The ministry is still waiting for a decision from the European Commission on the advantages and disadvantages of encrypted chat applications.
Since 2016, the official government position has been that encryption “plays a key role in society”. The Minister of Justice and Economic Affairs wrote at the time: “At the moment we do not want to take restrictive legal measures against the development, availability and use of encryption technology in the Netherlands.”
However, the current Justice Minister, Ferd Grapperhaus, has said several times that he prefers to minimize encryption in order to fight serious crime. No concrete plans have been made yet. That is why he would like to talk to large tech companies that can help with this.
It is of course not yet certain whether Grapperhaus will return in the next cabinet. Grapperhaus often deviates from the VVD line in terms of views: he would prefer to ban soft drugs altogether, while the VVD is arguing for trials with controlled cannabis cultivation. However, the encryption file will undoubtedly end up in the lap of the next minister.
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