New Challenges for Digital Privacy in France

Last month, the French Senate nearly approved a bill that would require messaging services to implement a "backdoor" for police access to end-to-end encrypted messages. This controversial proposal was ultimately rejected by the National Assembly, marking a temporary victory for digital privacy advocates in France. However, just three days ago, the Paris police prefect once again advocated for this initiative, as reported by Telegram founder Pavel Durov.

Durov congratulated lawmakers for rejecting the "law that would have made France the first country in the world to strip its citizens of their right to privacy". He warned that any built-in "backdoors" for law enforcement could be exploited by other parties, from foreign agents to hackers, compromising the private messages of all law-abiding citizens.

While proponents of the bill argued that it would aid in combating drug trafficking, Durov doubts its effectiveness. "Even if the major encrypted platforms were weakened, criminals would simply switch to dozens of lesser-known apps and protect their communications using VPNs," he explained.

According to Durov, Telegram, which has over 700 million users worldwide, has adhered to a strict no "backdoor" policy for 12 years. "We would rather exit the market than betray encryption and violate basic human rights," Durov emphasized, comparing Telegram's approach to competitors who "trade privacy for market share".

Under the EU Digital Services Act, he stated, Telegram complies with legal court orders by only disclosing IP addresses and phone numbers of suspects – but not the content of their messages. "We have never transmitted a single byte of private messages," Durov asserted.

Despite the recent defeat of lawmakers in France, Durov warned that the fight for encryption is far from over. In March, the European Commission proposed a similar initiative for implementing "backdoors" in messaging apps across the European Union.

Although Durov positions Telegram as an end-to-end encrypted messenger, he has faced criticism for overstating its security. Notably, in 2021, Signal messenger founder Moxie Marlinspike claimed that even Facebook Messenger offers better privacy protection than Telegram, as end-to-end encryption (E2EE) is only activated in "secret chats" and is not enabled by default for all conversations.