Chat control: More and more warnings about the weakening of secure encryption

Contents

In the run-up to important decisions in Berlin and Brussels regarding the EU Commission's draft regulation on mass online surveillance under the banner of combating child sexual abuse, which has been contested for years, opposition to the initiative is growing. In addition to civil society organisations and operators of messenger services, IT associations, other business associations, the Child Protection Association and press associations are now also speaking out emphatically against the screening of private online communication and the breaking of encryption.

The eco Association of the Internet Industry, for example, has issued an urgent warning against the planned chat controls. It is calling on the German government and the EU countries to reject the Danish Council Presidency's proposal at the upcoming consultations in the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States (Coreper) this week. Moreover, at the meeting of justice and interior ministers in mid-October.

According to eco, the draft still provides for the obligation of digital communication service providers to search private messages. This would also affect end-to-end encrypted services such as WhatsApp, Signal and Threema. According to the association, a newly introduced "consent solution", which gives users the choice of agreeing to surveillance or losing functions such as sending images and videos, does little to change the creation of an "uncontrollable infrastructure for mass surveillance". This also leads to the de facto undermining of secure encryption.

Digital sovereignty goes down the drain

"A 'compromise' that enshrines the unprovoked scanning of private communications – whether only for known or also for unknown content – is not one," emphasises Klaus Landefeld from the eco board. "It remains contrary to fundamental rights, technically misguided and dangerous in terms of security policy." Those who soften encryption always weaken the protection of citizens, companies and critical infrastructures. Internet complaints offices such as eco have already achieved deletion rates of up to 99 per cent in cases of abuse.

The European Digital SME Alliance, which includes around 45,000 small and medium-sized enterprises such as Ecosia, Element, Heinlein Group, Nextcloud and Wire, has also sounded the alarm in an open letter. They complain that the current proposal from Denmark continues to provide for client-side scanning of even encrypted messages directly on end devices, undermining basic security standards and jeopardising Europe's digital sovereignty.

The signatories emphasise that the protection of privacy and encryption are essential for economic independence and national security. If European services were de facto forced to install vulnerabilities, users would lose trust and switch to foreign providers. This would "make Europe even more dependent on American and Chinese tech giants" and destroy the competitive advantage that European companies have gained through European data protection regulations.

Democracy jeopardised

The German Journalists' Association (DJV) sees a concrete danger for journalists: "The protection of sources, a cornerstone of press freedom, depends on the guarantee of secure communication channels." If whistleblowers could no longer make contact confidentially, the flow of information would dry up. "If chat control were to be adopted, it would be a historic break," reads one commentary. "A democracy that places private communication under blanket suspicion is calling itself into question." Reporters Without Borders is also concerned: Journalistic work and, in particular, investigative research would be deprived of an important functional basis if encryption were to be cancelled out.

Meanwhile, the German Child Protection Association (DKSB) has reiterated its rejection of the surveillance proposal. Germany's largest child protection association does support the Commission's aim of combating depictions of sexualised violence. However, Elena Frense, specialist for media and digital affairs at the DKSB, emphasised to Netzpolitik.org: "However, we reject the possibility of scanning encrypted private communication, the so-called chat control."

Petition should send a signal

Former MEP Patrick Breyer is concerned that the CSU-led Federal Ministry of the Interior is using a last-minute ploy to force Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) to approve chat control. With German support, a majority in favour of the initiative would then be possible in the Council for the first time. A proposal presented as a "compromise" envisages "only" searching for known abuse material when screening private messages without cause. However, this would also have to undermine end-to-end encryption. It is perfidious that the repeatedly problematic chat histories of police officers, soldiers, and secret service agents and the ministers responsible for them are to be excluded from the chat control.

Spokespersons for the left-wing parliamentary group in the Bundestag warn that the argument of allegedly protecting children from sexualised violence should not be exploited to expand state surveillance. Stronger awareness-raising and educational work as well as a "comprehensive law against digital violence" are crucial. The civil society alliance "Stop Chat Control" has launched a last-minute petition, which over 140,000 people signed within a day.

(mma)