A world without wiretapping? Official documents highlight concern over effects 5G technology will have on “lawful interception”

Abstract:

The introduction of 5G telecommunications networks could render traditional "lawful interception" techniques used by the police obsolete, according to internal EU documents. Discussions on how to deal with the issue are ongoing – but are being kept behind closed doors. There is a need for a public discussion on this issue, as well as the closely-related topic of the surveillance potential of new technologies facilitated by 5G that threaten to introduce – in the words of a police think tank, no less – "major invasions of privacy and a fundamental, and at this stage unregulated, shift in the relationship between the police and the public."