Community police officer Tony Bengtsson in Uddevalla urges parents to be vigilant if their children use Signal. About the Church of Sweden’s choice of app he says: “I do not understand the purpose. There are other options.” At the same time the Swedish Armed Forces instruct their staff to use the same app, and the church’s own data protection officer recommends it for contact with confirmation candidates. That an individual police officer then acts as an authority in the field – without himself seeing the point of encryption – is not merely ignorant. It is deeply inappropriate.
Signal is a gang app – except in the Armed Forces and the cyber security centre
The message from the police to parents is clear: be vigilant if your child uses Signal. It rests on the fact that gang criminals use encrypted services to recruit young people. The problem is that the same app is recommended by the Swedish state. In February 2025 Brigadier General Mattias Hanson, CIO of the Swedish Armed Forces, decided that staff should use Signal for open communication on mobile phones. The purpose is to make eavesdropping on calls and messages more difficult. Behind the recommendation is also the National Centre for Cyber Security – the National Defence Radio Establishment, the Armed Forces, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency and the Security Service – which urges the use of end-to-end encrypted communication, in everyday life too.
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Young people’s awareness of privacy should be encouraged, not suspected
When a fifteen-year-old chooses an encrypted service over an unencrypted text message, it is a sign of digital literacy. It shows that young people understand how data is collected, sold on and can end up with both companies and authorities. That insight should be encouraged. Instead the choice of technology is turned into a warning sign, as if every encrypted conversation were a crime in itself. It is the same logic as suspecting someone for drawing the curtains.
The police have already backed down once – over exactly the same thing
In June 2025 the police published a list of apps that parents should delete “immediately”. Signal, Telegram and Wickr Me were singled out. Harsh criticism made the authority back down: the list was unpublished and the police wrote that they have no recommendations to delete apps. The clearest critic was security expert Karl Emil Nikka, who publicly questioned the warning and pointed out that the focus should be on who the children are in contact with – not on which app they use. His criticism made the police change course. Just over a year later the mistake is repeated by an individual community police officer in Uddevalla, at a time when the Armed Forces itself warns about eavesdropping on ordinary calls and text messages.
The church is doing the right thing – the police call it a problem
Several parishes in the Church of Sweden, including the Diocese of Gothenburg, have chosen Signal for their communication with confirmation candidates. The background is a recommendation from the church’s data protection officer. Press officer Torgny Lindén is clear about the motive: the main thing is to protect personal data. Instead of applauding an organisation that takes data protection seriously, the police in Uddevalla say the church’s choice may complicate their preventive work. That is a remarkable priority, in which the state’s insight weighs heavier than young people’s right to privacy.
Bengtsson is openly uncomprehending about encryption
Tony Bengtsson himself says he does not understand the purpose of the church using Signal and that there are other options. That is a remarkable statement from someone who at the same time warns parents on the same issue. The purpose is no secret: end-to-end encryption protects calls and messages from eavesdropping. The Armed Forces have judged that the protection is needed, and the National Centre for Cyber Security urges encrypted apps in everyday life too. Signal is not a hidden channel for criminals. It is open source, audited by security researchers around the world and used by journalists, lawyers, doctors and defence employees. Anyone who does not understand why should not act as an authority in the field. The question the police should be asking is not which app young people use, but which adults make contact with them.
Source
Police back down: Do not delete Signal and Telegram, TV4 Nyheterna
Police back down – remove advice to delete apps, Omni
Swedish Armed Forces staff to use the Signal app for open communication, Officerstidningen
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