On july 27, La Quadrature du Net published a press release detailing the recent opinion of the European Data Protection Supervisor which, although only advisory, still weighs heavily in the debates of the Commission). It is certainly a welcome opinion.

Firstly, because the Commission’s role is to protect the privacy of users. This is done by strengthening existing guidelines, applied through Europe-wide regulation that does not necessitate individual member states to modify their existing privacy laws. It is, by default, put into effect in all member states. It also extends the protection of privacy beyond the simple collection of personal information. This is all going in the right direction.

Some elements of this opinion are particularly relevant to Caliopen. When providing independent regulation of technologies, the Supervisor Committee based its argument on the fact that today: « For users, it is possible to begin a conversation using the messaging function of a game, then move to an OTT instant messaging service, exchange mobile SMS, and eventually launch a call between two phones ».

These words are music to our ears especially since we are working to unify the confidentiality of all private conversations with unlimited protocol.

Overall, we are pleased at the willingness to guarantee the encryption for all forms of private correspondence and the prohibition of any “backdoor” which would permit spying. We, along with La Quadrature, can only hope that the European authorities take account of this opinion in its entirety.