Germany's Ministry of the Interior is pondering changing the law to force messaging services, including WhatsApp, Apple iMessage, Telegram and Signal, to hand over plain-text versions of end-to-end encrypted messages using a court order. Operators said the proposals were an invasion of privacy, and the requirement to backdoor their code was technically unfeasible. The German government has been considering legislation that would require all messaging services to provide users with a way for them to encrypt messages, which could be used by authorities if they wanted to.
Germany's Ministry of the Interior is pondering changing the law to force messaging services, including WhatsApp, Apple iMessage, Telegram and Signal, to hand over plain-text versions of end-to-end encrypted messages using a court order. Operators said the proposals were an invasion of privacy, and the requirement to backdoor their code was technically unfeasible. The authorities said eliminating encrypted messaging would prevent criminals and terrorists from using the services.