Austrian government agrees on plan to allow monitoring of secure messaging
VIENNA - Austria's coalition government has agreed on a plan to enable police to monitor suspects' secure messaging in order to thwart militant attacks, ending what security officials have said is a rare and dangerous blind spot for a European Union country.
Because Austria lacks a legal framework for monitoring messaging services like WhatsApp, its main domestic intelligence service and police rely on allies with far more sweeping powers like Britain and the United States alerting them to chatter about planned attacks and spying.
That kind of tip-off led to police unravelling what they say was a planned attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, which prompted the cancellation of all three of her planned shows there in August of last year.
"The aim is to make people planning terrorist attacks in Austria feel less secure - and increase everyone else's sense of security," Joerg Leichtfried of the Social Democrats, the junior minister in charge of overseeing the Directorate for State Security and Intelligence (DSN), told a news conference.
"That is why this decision by the cabinet today is an important milestone in the fight against terrorism and spying in Austria," he added.
Under the new system, monitoring of a person's messaging must be approved by a three-judge panel and should only apply to a limited number of cases. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told the news conference it was only expected to be used on 25-30 people a year.
If it is more than 30, a report must be sent to a parliamentary committee, the government said, addressing concerns about mass surveillance and the infringement of people's privacy.
"The police must have a well-founded suspicion of a possible terror attack" to monitor a person's messaging under the new system, a government statement said.
Once parliament passes the legislation, a tender process for monitoring technology would be launched, and monitoring would begin in 2027, the government said. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
35 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Czech government survives no-confidence motion over bitcoin scandal
PRAGUE - The Czech centre-right government on Wednesday survived a vote of no confidence, called after the acceptance of a payment to the state by an ex-convict worth $45 million in bitcoin sparked controversy within the ruling coalition months before an election. The biggest opposition party, ANO, which leads opinion polls ahead of an October 3-4 election, had filed a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Petr Fiala's government, accusing it of helping the former cybercriminal legitimise his bitcoin holdings of potentially illegal origin. The motion failed after two days of debate in the lower house, where Fiala's ruling coalition led by his Civic Democrats Party, holds a majority. Political veteran Pavel Blazek, from Fiala's party, resigned as justice minister on May 31 for accepting the payment on behalf of the state, though he denied doing anything illegal. Fiala has called accepting the gift a political and ethical mistake. The man who made the donation of 468 bitcoins to the state was in jail from 2017 until 2021 after being convicted of involvement in the drug trade, fraud and illegal possession of weapons for running an illegal drug market on the internet called Sheep Marketplace. Blazek has faced criticism for possibly legitimising the ex-convict's assets, instead of turning to prosecutors or police to help secure them. The gift, Blazek has said, was agreed to be 30% of bitcoins found in a wallet on computers returned to the ex-convict by courts earlier this year. It was not clear what was the ex-convict's motivation to make the donation. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
35 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Trump tells Putin to end war in Ukraine before mediating Iran-Israel
US President Donald Trump (left) told Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to end his war in Ukraine before trying to mediate in the Israel-Iran conflict. PHOTOS: AFP, REUTERS Trump tells Putin to end war in Ukraine before mediating Iran-Israel WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump appeared on June 18 to rebuff Vladimir Putin's offer to mediate in the Israel-Iran conflict, saying the Russian president should end his own war in Ukraine first. 'He actually offered to help mediate. I said, 'Do me a favour, mediate your own. Let's mediate Russia first, okay?'' Mr Trump told reporters at the White House. 'I said 'Vladimir, let's mediate Russia first, you can worry about this later.'' But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov appeared to suggest the pair had not even spoken, telling Russian state news agency Tass: 'He was speaking figuratively. Life is so eventful right now that looking back a few days is like looking back to yesterday.' Later on June 18, Mr Trump said a change in Iran's government 'could happen,' and also indicated that negotiations could be in the offing, without giving details. 'They want to meet, they want to come to the White House – I may do that,' Mr Trump told reporters. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
European ministers to hold nuclear talks with Iran on Friday in Geneva, source says
European ministers to hold nuclear talks with Iran on Friday in Geneva, source says BERLIN - The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain plan to hold nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart on Friday in Geneva, a German diplomatic source told Reuters. The ministers will first meet with the European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, at Germany's permanent mission in Geneva before holding a joint meeting with the Iranian foreign minister, the source said. The aim of the talks, which the source said are taking place in coordination with the United States, is to persuade the Iranian side to firmly guarantee that it will use its nuclear programme solely for civilian purposes. According to the source, the talks are to be followed by a structured dialogue at expert level. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
