Context: Chat Control 2.0: EU governments set to approve the end of private messaging and secure encryption
“By making a minor concession EU governments hope to find a majority next week to approve the controversial ‘chat control’ bill. According to the proposed child sexual abuse regulation (CSAR), providers of messengers, e-mail and chat services would be forced to automatically search all private messages and photos for suspicious content and report it to the EU. To find a majority for this unprecedented mass surveillance, the EU Council Presidency proposed Tuesday that the scanners would initially search for previously classified CSAM only, and even less reliable technology to classify unknown imagery or conversations would be reserved to a later stage. The proposed „deal“ will be discussed by ambassadors tomorrow and could be adopted by ministers next week.”
The solution the EU is headed toward is A and B. That’s what this legislation requires. I don’t envision a future in which there’s a government provided email or chat service.
I gotta point out that your email and chat providers know everything about you. When I moved, refinanced, changed cell phone providers, I was inundated with garbage mail and phone calls, including strangers who knew where I lived and how much I had refinanced for or what cell phone company I had signed up with. When I started searching for refinancing, sent emails about a medical diagnosis, chatted about the possibility of moving, nothing except online ads from companies that don’t know who I am. Someone’s selling my data, but maybe the reason I trust particular tech companies with my most personal, intimate information is that they’re pretty goddam good stewards of it.