The European Union is busy passing a new law to identify everything you send on your smartphone. Client-side scanning is used to circumvent message encryption.

EU and client-side scanning

The European Union is increasingly interfering with our smartphones. This often concerns developments that mainly benefit consumers and manufacturers fear.

An example of this is that all smartphones can charge via USB-C, which particularly affected Apple. In addition, all smartphone makers must ensure that the battery can be easily replaced by the users themselves within a few years. The EU will also ensure that users will soon be able to choose a social media schedule, rather than an algorithm-driven one.

Privacy is also an important topic for the European Union. There are strict rules about what can happen to our data from apps, and big tech companies regularly receive high fines for violating this privacy legislation. However, the European Union is now working on a law that appears to be in direct conflict with our privacy.

What does the European Union want?

The European Union wants access to messages sent via apps to check for child abuse.

Images of children being sexually abused are circulated via messaging apps. Additionally, grooming takes place via these types of apps, where pedophiles try to build a relationship with children through conversations.

Specifically, the European Union wants online service providers to detect and report these types of messages. This includes WhatsApp, but also Gmail and even the secure Signal.

But there is end-to-end encryption, right?

Most chat apps, like WhatsApp, have end-to-end encryption. This means that messages are encrypted and only the sender and recipient have the key. Even the app makers can’t see what you send. How does the European Union want to solve this problem?

According to this bill, messages must be cross-verified Client-side scanning. This means that the message on your smartphone is scanned by itself. Images, videos and texts are compared against a database and if there is a match, the police are called.

Are there opponents to this law?

Several parties have expressed concerns about this bill, including privacy experts. It is unlikely that anyone is against detecting and combating child abuse, but for many, it goes further.

For example, there are criticisms that the portal is open to more inspections in the future, that smartphones and apps become more vulnerable if there is such an opening that could theoretically be abused by malicious parties, and that algorithms are often wrong, all the more so. Consequences ensue.

The Dutch Pets of Freedom Foundation, which defends Internet freedom, sent an urgent letter to the Minister of Justice and Security at the beginning of October, asking him not to approve this law. Earlier this year, a letter was also sent to the European Union from more than three hundred European scientists (including 36 Dutch scientists), with the following message: Current scanning technology is not working well enough and can therefore cause a lot of problems.

How is the European Union responding to this?

The European Union ignores the concerns. Ella Jakubowska of the European Commission said in early October message He responded, saying that extensive consultations had been conducted over two years with a variety of stakeholders, and that recent criticism had been mainly fueled by sensationalist media and the Big Tech lobby. According to Jakubowska, abusers in particular would benefit if this bill were stopped.

And now?

The European Union wants the law to be implemented before August 3, 2024, because then another EU legislation on detecting online child sexual abuse will expire. The law is likely to be voted on later this month.

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