US and European officials reignite 'back door' encryption debate after Paris

Privacy advocates call renewed discussion cynical and say government 'back door' access to secure communications would doubtless be used by terrorists

As the world continues to absorb the full impact of the murders of civilians by Islamic State attackers in Paris, officials on both sides of the Atlantic have renewed a discussion that many thought had been closed: whether or not to allow government agencies "back-door" access to the codes used to secure communications and financial and personal medical information.

US and European officials have been quick to indict technology for the attacks - although they have yet to show how, or if, technology contributed. CIA director John Brennan, whose own personal email account was recently breached by hackers, attributed the recent popularity of secure communications to "a lot of handwringing over the government's role in the effort to try to uncover these terrorists", and said the effect had been to make the CIA's ability to locate people "much more challenging".