Access to private correspondence is not applied — new technologies in the fight against child pornography in Cyprus

According to the Cyprus Police, over the past five years more than a thousand cases of child pornography distribution have been registered in the Republic. Despite efforts made by the authorities and international organizations, this threat remains acute and causes serious concern.

Statistics of incidents and arrests

The highest number of recorded cases — 241 — was in 2023. The year-by-year statistics are as follows:

2020: 203 cases, 51 arrests

2022: 231 cases, 38 arrests

2023: 241 cases, 32 arrests

2024: 201 cases, 23 arrests

2025 (until September): 114 cases, 14 arrests

The gap between the number of registered offenses and arrests highlights the difficulties of investigating such crimes, including the use of darknet and international networks. Europol and Interpol are actively involved in the investigations.

Use of ICACCOPS: what is this system?

On July 30, 2025, the Supreme Court of Cyprus recognized the use of specialized software ICACCOPS (Internet Crimes Against Children) as legal for combating child pornography online.

ICACCOPS performs the following functions:

Scans open P2P networks in search of files containing child sexual abuse material.

Identifies IP addresses of users who upload or download such files.

Records and stores these IP addresses in a database for subsequent criminal proceedings.

Distinction between private correspondence and monitoring public exchange

It is important to understand that ICACCOPS does not violate the confidentiality of private messages. It does not intercept personal communications, nor does it gain access to user accounts or devices. Analysis is carried out solely on the basis of publicly available data from open file-sharing networks.

What happens next?

After detecting a suspicious IP address, by court order the police may request from the internet provider the user’s identification data — such as name and address — to organize interrogations, possible equipment seizure, and charges.

International recognition and effectiveness

The ICACCOPS system has received international recognition and has proven effective in investigating thousands of cases of child pornography distribution. It is used in countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia, the UK and other EU states, including Cyprus.