On 27 August 2026, Europol and Eurojust published the seventh edition of the SIRIUS Electronic Evidence Situation Report. The report examines the current challenges faced by law enforcement authorities, judicial authorities both within and outside the EU, and service providers in accessing electronic evidence in 2025. It also addresses the forthcoming EU legislative package on electronic evidence (→eucrim 2023/2, 165-168). Four accompanying factsheets present the main findings.

SIRIUS is a EU-funded project supporting law enforcement and judicial authorities in obtaining cross-border electronic evidence for criminal investigations and proceedings. It serves as a central point of reference for accessing electronic data held by service providers in other jurisdictions. To this end, SIRIUS provides investigative and analytical tools, practical guidelines for cooperation with service providers, and a restricted platform for sharing knowledge and best practices. It also maintains a regularly updated repository containing contact details for over 1000 companies, including smaller and less accessible service providers, and facilitates exchanges of experience among practitioners.

The main findings and recommendations of the 2025 SIRIUS Report are summarised in the following:

• Law enforcement authorities: The report identifies social media platforms, messaging applications, cryptocurrency exchanges, and virtual private network providers as being among the most relevant services for investigations in 2024, with financial technology firms now ranking among the top five. Online portals are the preferred means of submitting requests directly to service providers (61%), followed by email (21%) and single points of contact (15%). The most frequently requested data include connection logs, telephone numbers, and internet protocol addresses used during registration. 58% of law enforcement authorities reported having received at least some training on cross-border access to electronic evidence. The report therefore recommends improving access to training on cross-border data requests and examining the possibility of introducing or expanding the single-point-of-contact approach at national or agency levels. Law enforcement authorities are also encouraged to prepare for the application of the new legal framework.
• Judicial authorities: Judicial cooperation channels remain the primary and most reliable means of obtaining electronic evidence across borders. However, many judicial authorities are not sufficiently familiar with cross-border data acquisition methods and upcoming legal instruments. Lengthy judicial assistance procedures and the absence of a data retention framework continue to pose major challenges. The report therefore emphasises the need for capacity building to improve awareness, knowledge, and practical skills among judicial authorities. It also recommends strengthening practical expertise in the available legal instruments.
• Service providers: The report reveals a total of 303,289 data requests in the 2024 sample, approximately 3.5 times the number recorded in 2018, the baseline year used for comparison in the SIRIUS reports. Google and Meta accounted for 82% of these requests (249,867). The success rate of requests from EU authorities reached 76%, the highest level since the first edition of the report. Emergency disclosure requests from EU authorities increased 32% compared to 2023, reaching 28,608 requests in the 2024 sample. The report therefore recommends that service providers assess their readiness for the launch of the decentralised information technology system under the EU legislative package on electronic evidence. They are also encouraged to engage with the SIRIUS community and share updates to their company policies with the SIRIUS team.
• Judicial authorities outside the EU: The report identifies mutual legal assistance as the main and most reliable mechanism for obtaining electronic evidence across borders. However, lengthy procedures and difficulties in identifying the competent jurisdiction continue to complicate judicial cooperation. Limited familiarity with methods for obtaining electronic data across borders and with forthcoming legal instruments also points to the need for further training and capacity building. Here, too, the report therefore recommends strengthening practical knowledge of the available legal instruments.

Overall, the report recommends preparing for the application of the new legal framework on electronic evidence while further strengthening cross-border cooperation, mutual trust, and knowledge sharing.

Further information on SIRIUS, including the report and accompanying factsheets, is available on the dedicated SIRIUS pages of Europol and Eurojust. For the reports of previous years, →eucrim 4/2024, 293-294 and eucrim 1/2024, 44-45.