The 28 EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers, who met in an emergency meeting in Brussels, are considering starting to monitor the Skype and Viber applications, due to the latest terrorist events in Paris and Brussels.
Belgian Justice Minister Koen Geens has called for Internet communication to be opened up for security checks and to stop looking only at traditional communication services such as the telephone.
"We have Skype, Viber. We should open up the Internet," the minister specifically stated.
The 28 ministers, in a joint statement, called for the swift completion of the legislation to combat terrorism. In the same statement, they stressed the determination of all EU countries to unite to fight terrorism together while upholding European values, and noted that the attack in Brussels was directed “against our open democratic society.”.
However, monitoring Skype and Viber will not be an easy task for the EU. The encryption of the applications will certainly make the work of the authorities more difficult, and thus it is expected that in the near future the cybercrime services of all countries, as well as the application companies, will be asked to assist in the work of the Commission.
This could lead to disputes and be reminiscent of the recent FBI-Apple dispute over the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone. So we'll have to wait and see if Skype and Viber or any other tech company with a similar communication app agree to help the EU.
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