In contemporary society, encryption has become an integral characteristic of everyday life. Strong encryption is an imperative feature of protecting privacy and doing business. However, criminals also abuse encryption as part of their modus operandi. This is where the challenge for law enforcement, prosecution and policymakers commences.

As part of the measures outlined by the European Commission in the Eleventh progress report towards an effective and genuine Security Union to address the role of encryption in criminal investigations, Europol, in cooperation with Eurojust has established an observatory function to engage in a forward-looking analysis with respect to encryption. This is the first report published as part of the observatory function and has as its primary objective to provide an overview of the state of play. The purpose of the observatory function is to inform; to provide a useful and balanced resource for future decision-making, approached from a law enforcement and prosecutorial perspective. The primary audience, therefore, is policymakers.