EU Proposal to Undermine End-to-End Encryption Rebranded as "Upload Moderation"

In a recent statement, Meredith Whittaker, President of Signal, has called attention to ongoing attempts within the European Union to undermine end-to-end encryption. Despite the EU Parliament's November vote to exclude end-to-end encryption from mass surveillance orders in the chat control legislation, some European countries continue to push for measures that would fundamentally weaken the security of encrypted communications.

The latest proposal, now rebranded as "upload moderation," claims to avoid undermining encryption by scanning messages or videos before they are encrypted. However, experts maintain that any form of mass scanning of private communications, regardless of when it occurs, creates vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers and hostile nation states.

Whittaker emphasizes that the expert community has repeatedly made it clear that there is no way to preserve the integrity of end-to-end encryption while simultaneously exposing encrypted contents to surveillance. She warns that breaking end-to-end encryption, especially during a time of heightened geopolitical volatility, could have disastrous consequences.

The debate surrounding the EU's chat control legislation highlights the ongoing tension between privacy advocates and those who argue for increased surveillance in the name of public safety. As the discussion continues, it remains to be seen whether the EU will heed the warnings of encryption experts or proceed with measures that could compromise the security of private communications on a global scale.