The lower house of the Austrian parliament approved a law that will allow law enforcement agencies and special services to monitor the digital communications of suspects in serious crimes, even if they use encrypted messengers such as WhatsApp and Signal.
The vote took place on Thursday: 105 MPs voted in favour and 71 against. The bill was supported by the ruling coalition, which includes the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) and the liberal NEOS party. Two NEOS MPs abstained.
Under the new law, special services will be able to access the content of encrypted communications in certain cases. Initially, monitoring authorisation may be granted for a maximum of three months, but this may be extended. The use of such methods is limited to situations involving threats to the constitutional order or suspected terrorism.
The provision on the use of spyware to access encrypted messages has caused the most controversy. The opposition warns of the risk of abuse and points to gaps in security.
On Wednesday, more than 40 Austrian and international non-governmental organisations sent an open letter to members of the National Council calling for the initiative to be rejected. Among the signatories are organisations for the protection of rights and freedoms, such as epicenter.works, Greenpeace, Chaos Computer Club and the Catholic Movement. According to them, the law represents “a historic step backwards for public safety.”
Of particular concern are the potential risks to journalists, activists, academics and opposition figures. The letter cites examples from other countries: in Spain, the Pegasus programme was used to spy on Catalan separatists, journalists and politicians; in Greece, the “Predatorgate” scandal revealed mass surveillance of the media and politicians; in Poland, the same software was used to track about 600 people, including lawyers and opposition figures.
“These cases clearly demonstrate how rapidly surveillance technologies can undermine the foundations of democracy,” the appeal emphasises.
