EncroChats cracked: Courts allow data to be used

Data obtained by investigators from encrypted mobile phones from EncroChat may be used in German criminal proceedings.

That was decided by the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court in a decision published on Friday.

Together with Dutch investigators, French authorities succeeded in deciphering the conspiratorial EncroChat communication in early 2020, which was almost exclusively used by drug dealers and other serious criminals.

It was a severe blow to organized crime (OK) in Europe;

after that there were hundreds of arrests.

The EncroChat data would give concrete indications of serious criminal offenses, "the law enforcement authorities have to investigate," according to the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court.

Neither under German law nor under European regulations is a prohibition of exploitation.

So far, all higher regional courts in Germany dealing with EncroChat have represented this line.

At the beginning of July, a criminal chamber of the Berlin Regional Court caused displeasure among OC investigators. She had spoken out against the use of EncroChat histories as evidence and agreed that a 32-year-old drug dealer was right. At the beginning of the week, however, the Berlin Court of Appeal rejected this decision and allowed the main proceedings to be opened.