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One could assume that people in power see privacy and security as opposing forces.

“Without privacy, you don’t have freedom of speech, you don’t have democracy.

View on National Assembly building in Paris, France, with French and European flags flying.

The choice is pretty obvious.”

Services like WhatsApp and Signal offer everyday access to encrypted messaging to help improve personal privacy.

“And this has led to the misguided targeting of encryption services,” said Yen.

Digital privacy advocatessaved encryption in France, yet again, lately.

That said, authorities increasingly recognize the need for strong encryption to protect against widespread cyberattacks.

Take the Salt Typhoon case, the unprecedented cyberattacks that targeted all the major US telecom systems.

That’s where the encryption backdoor concept comes in.

Commenting on this, Yen said: “Encryption is math it either adds up or it doesn’t.

You’re not able to create a backdoor that will preserve encryption.

It is simply not possible.”

What’s next?

If successful, the new rules could come into force as early as March 2026.

If you don’t have privacy, you’ve got the option to never actually have security."

DeemedChat Controlby its critics, the law could require scanning all citizens' private communications, including encrypted messages.

So, what can be done to balance the encryption conundrum?

According to Yen, the first step is acknowledging that a grey zone exists within this technology.

He said: “If we protect privacy, there are going to be negative activities.

There are going to be some problems that come as a result of that.