Telegram’s encryption stymies French police but pleases their bosses

French government officials have been revealed as fervent users of Telegram, a messaging app that is frustrating their interior minister with its end-to-end encryption.

Telegram’s fans include the current head of the French judicial police, Christian Sainte, and his predecessor, Frédéric Péchenard. The app’s security has also won over a number of legislators, including the French finance minister, who encourages his team to use it, according to Wednesday’s edition of French newspaper Le Canard Enchainé.

Telegram claims over 100 million monthly users of its secure messaging app, but it was the action of just one of them — Normandy church attacker Adel Kermiche — that prompted French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve to call on Tuesday for investigators to be allowed to eavesdrop on Telegram users’ conversations.

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