An action of this nature, according to critics, would be detrimental to encryption and constitute a “terrifying mass surveillance measure.”
Officials from the European Union have postponed discussions over a proposed piece of legislation that might require messaging services to go through photographs and links in order to identify potential instances of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). In the event that the plan were to be passed into law, it would mean that applications like as WhatsApp, Messenger, and Signal would be required to examine every photograph that users upload. This would essentially force these applications to break encryption.
A minimum of fifteen of the member nations, which together account for at least sixty-five percent of the total population of the bloc, would need to indicate their support for the measure in order for it to be approved. On the other hand, according to Politico, nations such as Germany, Austria, Poland, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic were anticipated to either not participate in the vote or to oppose the idea owing to worries regarding cybersecurity and privacy. In the event that members of the European Union reach a consensus on a shared stance, they will be required to collaboratively negotiate a final version of the law with the European Commission and the European Parliament.
The legislation was initially suggested in 2022, and it has the potential to make messaging services required to scan all images and connections in order to identify child sexual abuse and communications between children and possible criminals. According to the suggestion, users would be informed about the link and image scans that are included in the terms and conditions of the services. In the event that they declined, they would be prevented from sharing photographs and links on the aforementioned networks. The proposed proposal, on the other hand, contains an exemption for “accounts used by the State for national security purposes,” as Politico points out.
It has been reported that the leaders of the EU Council have been attempting to break the impasse and move forward with negotiations in order to ratify the bill for the past six months. As of the 30th of June, Belgium will have completed its presidency of the Council, and it is not yet obvious whether the next leadership will continue to place a high priority on accepting the plan.
Patrick Breyer, an activist for digital rights who served as a member of the previous European Parliament prior to the elections that took place this month, has suggested that those who advocated for the so-called “chat control” plan intended to take advantage of a power vacuum that existed prior to the formation of the next parliament. Breyer asserts that the postponement of the vote, which was in part caused by activists, “should be celebrated,” but he also cautions that “surveillance extremists among the EU governments” may once more attempt to push chat control in the days to come.
The concept has been criticized by a number of other critics and privacy groups. In a statement, Meredith Whittaker, the president of Signal, stated that “mass scanning of private communications fundamentally undermines encryption.” On the other hand, Edward Snowden referred to it as a “terrifying mass surveillance measure.”
For the purpose of combating CSAM, advocates, on the other side, have proposed that it would be appropriate to break encryption. “The Commission has proposed the method or the rule that even encrypted messaging can be broken for the purpose of better protecting children,” Věra Jourová, the Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, stated on Thursday, as reported by EuroNews.
It is not just the European Union that is attempting to make such a move. An intention to search iCloud Photos for known CSAM was disclosed by Apple in the year 2021. Nevertheless, in response to criticism from individuals such as customers, advocacy groups, and researchers, it decided to abandon that contentious endeavor.