The EU votes on controversial privacy law

On June 20, the EU is voting on a controversial proposal that could see the bulk scanning of chat messages. This includes messages sent through services such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal that use end-to-end encryption.

If the proposal were to become law, the providers of apps such as Facebook Messenger and Snapchat would be obliged to search all messages for child sexual exploitation material (CSEM), including images, videos, messages, and files. This means that any message you send using these apps would have to be scanned by the service provider, regardless of whether or not the service uses encryption to protect your messages.

What is the Chat Control proposal?

The EU is voting on whether to bring in mandatory scanning of communications

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There is already a Chat Control regulation in place in the EU. The current Chat Control rules allow providers to scan communications voluntarily. Some unencrypted services, such as Gmail, iCloud email, and Skype already apply this ruling voluntarily to scan for known CSEM content.

The vote relates to an update to the Chat Control regulations that would turn this from a voluntary option to a mandatory one. It would mean that any service provider of chat, email, and other messaging apps that could be used for sending CSEM would be required to scan messages for suspicious content. If anything is found, it must be reported to the relevant authorities.

These regulations would apply to all messaging providers, even those such as Signal and WhatsApp that use end-to-end encryption. This encryption currently prevents anyone, including the service providers themselves, from being able to see the content of messages. These regulations would force these providers to scan the content of messages before they are encrypted, effectively removing the huge privacy benefits that this form of encryption brings.

What is the reaction to the Chat Control regulations?

There are more than just privacy concerns

Understandably, there has been a significant backlash to the proposed changes. The most obvious reason why these proposals have caused a stir is that they completely remove the right to private communication that end-to-end encrypted chats can offer. Since messages must be stored unencrypted at some point in order to be scanned, it opens these messages up to the risk of hacks and leaks, which would not be the case if they remained encrypted.

There are also concerns about messages being incorrectly flagged for CSEM. According to the Swiss Federal Police, up to 80% of suspicious reports flagged by automatic screening processes turned out not to contain any criminal content. The automatic scanning of content, and the mandatory reporting of any content found to be suspicious, means that the number of falsely reported messages would increase significantly.

There is also the risk of criminalizing minors for sharing intimate images with each other, as these images could be detected and flagged by screening algorithms. They could also potentially be viewed by adults as part of the screening process. Many people also see this as a back door that will eventually lead to widespread surveillance of chat messages by governments.

If the vote passes, will the proposal become law?

The vote is only the first stage

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It is unclear what the outcome of the vote will be. However, even if the legislation gains support, there will be a series of negotiations to create the final version of the law. Even if the Chat Control regulations are strengthened, it is possible they may not include all the proposals in the current bill.

However, if the new Chat Control measures do become law, it may mean the end of some chat services in the EU. Signal has already indicated that it will leave the EU market rather than compromise the privacy of its messaging service.