Swiss makers defend Isis-backed phone app - The Local

In a guide distributed by Isis to its jihadist followers in January, Threema was listed as a "safe" communication forum.     There is no evidence the gunmen who killed 129 people in Paris last week used Threema or any similar messaging system to communicate.     

Flepp did not comment on whether Threema can or would ever consider designing such a backdoor key, but said that while the company will always comply with Swiss law, it does not have access to its users private messages.     "Threema operates within the boundaries of Swiss law and will cooperate with Swiss authorities if legally required. However, possibilities are extremely limited since we have very little data and don't have access to the private keys of our users," he said.     And he maintained that despite the existence of real security concerns, with extremists using messaging services to communicate, the need for privacy remained absolute.     "Sacrificing some of the very foundations of our western democracies — liberty, privacy and freedom of speech —  for a false sense of security does not seem like a smart thing to do."