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EU calls for privacy-security balance on message encryption

By Abbey Westbury
March 27 2017 05:48 AM

CP607209379 — People look at floral tributes in Parliament Square, London, Sunday, March 26, 2017, laid out for the victims of the Westminster attack on Wednesday. Khalid Masood killed four people and left more than two dozen hospitalized, including some with what have been described as catastrophic injuries. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP)

BRUSSELS – The European Union’s presidency says people’s privacy must be protected following British calls for police access to encrypted messages in case of attacks.

Maltese Interior Minister Carmelo Abela said Monday “there is a fine line here. We need to of course protect the privacy of the people but we also have to protect the security of the people.”

British Home Secretary Amber Rudd said Sunday that “we need to make sure that organizations like WhatsApp — and there are plenty of others like that — don’t provide a secret place for terrorists to communicate with each other.”

London attacker Khalid Masood sent a WhatsApp message that can’t be accessed because it was encrypted.

Abela said that EU states and internet providers should continue talks to establish the right security-privacy balance.

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