Issues of admissibility & attribution in encrypted communications will become increasingly common, Thomas Schofield predicts
- EncroChat, an encrypted messaging service, was used by organised crime groups until police infiltrated it three years ago.
- Linking an EncroChat handle to a known individual is a complex process.
- The admissibility in court of EncroChat evidence depends on whether it was obtained during transmission or storage.
- If EncroChat were ruled generally inadmissible, appeals on a scale similar to the Post Office scandal would be likely to follow.
It is now more than three years since the French police infiltrated EncroChat, the encrypted messaging service alleged to have been used extensively by organised crime groups (OCGs) across the UK and Europe.
Since then, we are told that: more than 6,500 people have been arrested across the continent; and more than €900m, 270 tonnes of drugs, 270 properties, 83 boats, 40 planes and 923 cars have been seized by law enforcement.
EncroChat was a secure communications system permitting voice messages, chats and other forms of communication between participants. It marketed itself as a legitimate company
