4th SIRIUS Single Point of Contact Network Meeting – Madrid, Spain

Single Point of Contacts (SPoCs) are crucial actors in online criminal investigations; they mediate and increase the success of the direct exchange of electronic evidence between private companies and investigating authorities. Although currently several countries in Europe have a national SPoC established, their models and working practices vary significantly.

On the 1-2 June 2023 over 100 representatives from 34 Law Enforcement Authorities across Europe met in Madrid, Spain at the invitation of the Guardia Civil, to discuss and share the latest developments, best practices, common challenges and possible solutions in the area of cross-border access to electronic evidence.

The focus of this year’s event was to improve engagement between law enforcement authorities and (online) Service Providers (SPs), as well as to enhance the quality of requests submitted to the SPs.  Representatives of well-known social media, travel and accommodation platforms participated and shared their views and experiences to enhance cooperation by providing successful examples of real investigations.

Unique to this meeting is the expansion of the audience to include not only financial service providers discussing their role in e-evidence matters, but also connected cars companies participated as observers. 

The first day yielded strategic as well as technical discussions and, most importantly, a shared way forward: to disseminate and promote the SPoC approach across the EU as a model that guarantees direct and effective exchange of electronic evidence in criminal investigations. This process of direct exchange of electronic evidence requires a solid public-private cooperation and continuous efforts to strengthen this partnership is key. As the network expands and leads to more successful interactions, we look to the future and predict an even more diverse network to service electronic evidence in all crime areas.

During the second day, law enforcement participants had the chance to visit the Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional premises, specifically the SPoC (SITEL) units, where they exchanged knowledge and expertise regarding the submission of data requests to Service Providers. 

The SIRIUS SPoC Network Meeting is part of the SIRIUS project’s activities dedicated to improving cross-border access to electronic evidence. If you have any questions or feedback, or if you would like to join the SIRIUS Platform, you can contact the SIRIUS team via e-mail at sirius@europol.europa.eu.

Learn more about the SIRIUS project.