Europol says mobile roaming tech is making its job too hard

Europol’s position paper argues that service-level encryption used in SMS home routing for mobile roaming obstructs lawful interception by preventing visiting networks from accessing clear data, thereby slowing investigations that rely on timely access. It proposes regulatory action to disable these privacy-enhancing technologies during roaming—maintaining only the home country’s normal encryption—or, less preferably, enabling cross-border data requests, emphasizing the need to balance secure communications with investigatory powers.