More Support for Encryption! France Says “No” to Backdoors

Just weeks after the Netherlands officially rejected backdoors into encrypted communications, France has followed suit. France rejected a draft amendment to their Digital Republic Bill that required “mandatory hardware backdoors” be designed into tech devices and products. The proposed amendment was in part a response to the recent Paris terror attacks, which further fueled the debate over backdoor encryption that’s been going on around the globe.

As reported in ZDNet, France’s deputy minister for digital affairs, Axelle Lemaire, spoke out against the proposal and called it “vulnerability by design.” This goes against the goal of the Digital Republic Bill, which is to “enable privacy by design.” Lemaire continued to speak out against backdoor encryption, saying: “With a backdoor, personal data is not protected at all. Even if the intention is laudable, it also opens the door to players who have less laudable intentions, not to mention the potential for economic damage to the credibility of companies planning these flaws.”

We’re excited to hear that yet another country is protecting strong encryption by rejecting backdoors and the dangers they present. We hope that this precedent will continue to spread in the EU and around the globe.