The Irish government announced this week the introduction of the Communications (Interception and Lawful Access) Bill, which would regulate the use of 'lawful interception,' the industry term for surveillance technology, including spyware made by companies such as Intellexa, NSO Group, and Paragon Solutions. 'There is an urgent need for a new legal framework for lawful interception which can be used to confront serious crime and security threats,' said Jim O'Callaghan, Ireland's minister for justice, home affairs, and migration. The main driver for this new law is that Ireland's existing 1993 law governing the use of lawful interception tools predates most modern means of communications, such as messages and calls made with end-to-end encrypted apps. Communications encrypted in this way are generally speaking only accessible if authorities hack into a target's devices, both remotely using government-grade spyware, or locally using forensic technology like Cellebrite devices. The...
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