The encrypted messaging app Signal is growing – now even the Swedish Armed Forces use the app.
But the government wants to force the company to introduce a technical backdoor for the Police and Säpo.
– If it becomes a reality, we will leave Sweden, says Signal’s head Meredith Whittaker, in an exclusive interview with SVT.
If the government gets its way, the bill will be tabled in the Riksdag as early as March next year.
The bill states that companies like Signal and Whatsapp will be forced to store all messages sent using the apps.
Leaving Sweden
Signal – which is run by a non-profit foundation – now tells SVT News that the company will leave Sweden if the bill becomes a reality.
– In practice, this means asking us to break the encryption that is the foundation of our entire business. Asking us to store data would undermine our entire architecture and we would never do that. We would rather leave the Swedish market completely, says Signal’s CEO Meredith Whittaker.
She says the bill would require Signal to install so-called backdoors in its software.
– If you create a vulnerability based on Swedish wishes, it would create a way to undermine our entire network. That’s why we would never introduce these backdoors.
But don’t you, as a supplier, have a responsibility to support efforts against crime?
– Our responsibility is to offer technology that upholds human rights in an era where those rights are being violated in more and more places. In today’s digital world, there are very few places where we can communicate privately or blow the whistle.
Armed Forces critical
Meredith Whittaker mentions the Chinese state-sponsored Salt Typhoon attack on several US internet providers in 2024, which leaked text messages and phone calls. She suggests that a Swedish backdoor would open up the same thing.
– There are no back doors that only “the good guys” have access to.
The purpose of the bill is to enable the Security Service and the police to request message history for criminal suspects afterwards. Both authorities were positive in the consultation round.
– The possibilities for law enforcement authorities to effectively gain access to electronic communications are absolutely crucial, said Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) earlier at a press conference.
But the Armed Forces are negative and recently urged their personnel to start using Signal to reduce the risk of eavesdropping.
In a letter to the government, the Armed Forces write that the bill will not be able to be implemented “without introducing vulnerabilities and backdoors that could be exploited by third parties.”
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