Albania: Issued ECtHR ruling in lawsuit against the law requiring access to encrypted messages by authorities (Podchasov v Russia)

On 13 February 2024, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued a ruling in the case of Podchasov v Russia (33696/19), which concerned a statutory requirement in Russia for internet communication organisers to store communication data for a limited amount of time, as well as making it available to law enforcement alongside the means to decrypt the data. The applicant was a user of the messaging app Telegram, which, in 2018, had been blocked for refusing to comply with a disclosure order. The applicant originally argued that the disclosure requirement violated the right to respect for their private life and for the privacy of their communications. The ECtHR found that, in requiring direct access of security services to internet communications without safeguards and the decryption of such communications, the legislation in question impaired the right to respect for private life under Art.8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.