The EU wants to scan your WhatsApp chats—and privacy experts are furious

On Thursday, June 20, 2024, EU lawmakers are set to vote on a proposed law that, if it passes, would require tech companies to scan all your private messages on the lookout for child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

What’s known as Chat Control has faced strong criticism since it was first proposed in 2023. Last May, the Belgian presidency attempted to find a compromise by putting together an allegedly watered-down proposal. 

According to the revised Chat Control law, users must consent to have their shared photos, videos, and URLs scanned if they want to keep using this functionality. The bill also introduces the concept of ‘upload moderation’ to, they say, avoid breaking encryption as the content is supposed to be scanned before being encrypted. 

Make no mistake—tech experts are not buying it. Cryptographers, privacy advocates, and tech companies, including some of the best VPN and messaging app providers, all deemed the new proposal as a dangerous rebranding that will plunge us all into mass surveillance. They are now urging people in Europe to contact their national representative in the EU and pledge to stop the bill from passing into the next legislative stage.

Just “rhetorical games” 

“Let’s be very clear, again: mandating mass scanning of private communications fundamentally undermines encryption. Full stop,” Meredith Whittaker, President of the Signal Foundation, wrote in a statement on Monday (see tweet below).

Signal has been vocal against what’s previously referred to as ‘side-scanning’ since the beginning. The company said it would leave the UK instead of undermining encryption—while still figuring in the Online Safety law, it has been halted until it’s “feasible to do so.” Whittaker reiterated such a stance when EU lawmakers began considering Chat Control last year.

Now, as many other experts, Whittaker pointed out how ‘upload moderation’ is simply a “rhetorical game” as, no matter how and when the scanning is implemented, it can still create a vulnerability for hackers and hostile nation-states to exploit.

She said: “We ask that those playing these word games please stop and recognize what the expert community has repeatedly made clear. Either end-to-end encryption protects everyone and enshrines security and privacy, or it’s broken for everyone.”