- Germany and Luxembourg have joined the list of countries that oppose the controversial sexual abuse of children (CSAM) who scan the bill on the threshold of the decisive September 12 -meeting
- EU council members share their final attitude towards the Danish proposal on September 12
- Experts are still concerned about the negative impact that the bill has on the privacy and security of citizens
Germany and Luxembourg have joined the list of countries that oppose the controversial material of sexual abuse of children (CSAM), which is on the threshold of the decisive 12th September meeting.
According to the latest data, eight countries are now against what has been nicknamed Chat Control. In addition to Germany and Luxembourg, this is Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, the Netherlands and Poland.
However, fifteen EU members are already supporting the public bill with only four countries that are still indefinite at the time of writing (Estonia, Greece, Romania and Slovenia), according to the latest data.
The Danish proposal introduces new obligations for all message services operating in Europe to scan users’ chats – even if encrypted – in the search for both known and unknown CSAM material. A measure that has attracted strong criticism among both political ranks and technical industry.
Of crucial importance, the mandatory scan is expected to occur directly on the device before messages are encrypted and targeted at shared URLs, images and videos. Only governments and military accounts are excluded from the range of the bill.
EU members share their final positions in the Council on Friday, September 12 with another meeting with the EU Justice Minister, which was also set at October 14.
“Unlike breaking encryption”
“BMI [German Federal Ministry of the Interior] Representative explained that they could not fully support the Danish position. For example, they were against breaking the encryption, “says a message from the German base.
Encryption is the technology responsible for encrypting our online communications into an ulcerous form to prevent unauthorized access.
Encrypted Messaging apps such as Signal or WhatsApp, secure email providers like Proton Mail, and the best VPN services are all dependent on end-to-end encryption to ensure our communication remains private between the sender and the recipient end to the end.
While law enforcement sees this protection as an obstacle during investigation, still cryptographers and technologists could lead to mass surveillance while creating security vulnerability that even criminals and hostile governments would be able to exploit.
However, Germany has been assumed to be the decisive factor, which made Chat Control’s critics worried for a long time. In fact, the previous government was very pro encryption-there tried to encryption to a legal right at home, while the strongly opposite the mandatory scan in the block.
Nevertheless, the new administration has “given very mixed messages”, director of government affairs and advocacy in the Internet Society, Callum Voge, Techradar said.
Until now, at least. Germany moving to the opposition ranks could then seriously swing the vote, which means that the chances of the Danish proposals to pass will be slimmer.
German encrypted E email service, Tuta Mail – which is said to be ready to sue the EU of chat control – in particular welcomes the German decision.
Tuta Mail CEO, Matthias PFAU, said: “Protection of private communication is crucial to protecting democracy, freedom of speech and security for all citizens. We are happy to see that politicians are beginning to understand that undermining encryption is not an option:” A back door for the good guys “only exists.”
