Proposed French VPN and Encryption Laws Could Violate Privacy Rights

A set of newly proposed laws in France regarding the backdooring of encrypted messaging services is sparking controversy among privacy rights advocates.

France proposes backdooring laws

French officials recently proposed a set of laws to let law enforcement decrypt and read suspects’ encrypted messages.

While the measure could appear benign to law-abiding citizens, privacy rights advocates are concerned about the implications of such a move.

Although the law has yet to be fully adopted, the French Senate already voted in favor of the amendment, which is now on its way to the National Assembly.

If adopted, the law would fine non-compliant individuals up to €1.5 million and companies up to 2% of their annual global turnover.

Encryption, crucial to individual privacy

Privacy advocates, including email provider Tuta and the VPN Trust Initiative (VTI), publicly oppose such amendments, claiming that their effects could be disastrous for all users, not just criminals.

"A backdoor for the good guys only is a dangerous illusion," said Tuta Mail CEO Matthias Pfau, as BleepingComputer reported. "Weakening encryption for law enforcement inevitably creates vulnerabilities that can – and will – be exploited by cybercriminals and hostile foreign actors. This law would not just target criminals, it would destroy security for everyone."

Tuta doubled down on the importance of preserving encryption, stating that the proposed amendment could directly violate the EU’s GDPR and Germany’s IT security laws.

Internet restriction amendments directed at VPN providers

Last week, the VTI strongly opposed a French law amendment directed at VPN providers that would twist their arm into blocking access to pirate sites and services.

"Focusing on content-neutral tools like VPNs rather than addressing the sources of illegal content not only fails to combat piracy but creates and inflicts collateral damage to cybersecurity and privacy, putting users at risk," reads a VTI statement.

The consortium draws analogies between the amendment and internet blocking laws in other countries, such as China, Iran, Myanmar and Russia, highlighting the amendment’s potential for unfair censorship.

The importance of maintaining online privacy

Nowadays, privacy violations are on the rise, making safeguarding one’s privacy or anonymity on the internet a necessity.

A trustworthy VPN can give you peace of mind while browsing the internet, streaming your favorite content or performing banking operations by obfuscating your online whereabouts.

Bitdefender VPN gives you unlimited traffic encryption on up to 10 devices, has robust AES-256 encryption protocols, encompasses a generous (4,000+ servers in 50+ countries worldwide) network of servers, enforces a strict no-logging policy and has ad-blocking and anti-tracker modules.