The EU discusses the launch of high-level expert group on police access to digital data

The establishment of a High-Level Expert Group on police access to digital data is being discussed by European governments, with data retention and encryption being identified as the most pressing issues for law enforcement. Data retention has caused problems in the past due to disproportionate data harvesting practices being struck down by the EU and national courts. Documents obtained by Euractiv show that several countries, including France, Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland, have called for data retention to take centre stage in the discussions. Additionally, sub-groups dedicated to encryption and data localisation have been proposed, with France seeing both issues as critical in fighting criminal organisations and terrorist networks. Furthermore, the EU countries’ formal comments on a draft law aimed at combating child sexual abuse material have highlighted end-to-end encryption, quick removals of such material, and preservation of evidence as key concerns.