European Commissioner Digital Market speaks out against backdoorsdoor

The European Commissioner for the Digital Internal Market Andrus Ansip has spoken out against the use of backdoors, citing certain systems as an example. He points out that the Paris attackers did not communicate encrypted.

Ansip does not want to specifically address questions about whether or not unlocking iPhones is mandatory, but says in an interview with Euractiv, during MWC 2016, that his position in this area is known. “Identification systems are based on encryption. I am strongly against any backdoor in these systems,” Ansip said. According to him, trust in digital IDs would be undermined in the presence of backdoors. He also mentions the systems of connected cars as an example where strong encryption without backdoors is required.

The European Commissioner for the Digital Single Market does not discuss encryption in smartphones, as is the case with the Apple case. However, he says he sees no contradiction in the goal of both protecting everyone’s privacy and guaranteeing security. “I don’t want to blame the internet for all the bad things in the world.”

He points to the Paris attackers: “Someone said that the terrorists of the attack in November used strong encryption systems for their communication systems. Because we found one of the mobiles, we know that they used open systems for text messages.”

A European Commissioner represents the interest of the European Union and the Commission decides by majority. The position of a single European Commissioner has no binding force or influence on the policy of member states. A year ago, the European Union’s counter-terrorism coordinator argued that internet and telecom companies should be able to be forced to hand over their encryption keys.