Chat control: Why the EU wants to scan your private messages

[Martin Everson]

https://www.buzz.ie/news/world-news/chat-control-eu-whatsapp-snapchat-26944489

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MEP Patrick Breyer of Germany’s Pirate Party said, “Chat control will allow e-mail, messaging and chat providers to indiscriminately search your private messages for allegedly illegal material and report to the police, using error-prone algorithms and AI.

"Blanket, real-time mass surveillance of all your emails and messages is inefficient, counter-productive, dangerous and causes severe collateral damage, including to children."

He added in a blog post that it was a “giant step towards a Chinese-style surveillance state”.

A similar plan by Apple to scan all images stored on customers’ iPhones for CSAM was scrapped after a backlash last summer.

---quote end

 

[khinkali]

Not your keys, not your privacy.

The last UK prime minister wanted to ban end to end encryption. She's gone now.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Run fast and far away from the EU while it is still possible

 

[Martin Everson]

Anyone who thinks government access to your private messages is about protecting children is sadly mistaken. They are trying to use the most emotive reason to do away with your right to privacy. Once you go along with that then its to fight drug crime, then tax evasion, then any anti-state activity like organizing anti government protests . Before you know it you will be like how did we get to here.

As always......get out of EU while you still can. Keep running and don't look back .

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Anyone who thinks government access to your private messages is about protecting children is sadly mistaken. They are trying to use the most emotive reason to do away with your right to privacy. Once you go along with that then its to fight drug crime, then tax evasion, then any anti-state activity like organizing anti government protests . Before you know it you will be like how did we get to here.

As always......get out of EU while you still can. Keep running and don't look back .

Plus there will always be some smart a*s who says “what’s the problem, I have nothing to hide”

 

[KJK]

Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say

The funniest thing is that members of this so-called "Pirate Party" in Europe (Germany, Sweden etc.) pretend to be very tech-savvy, privacy oriented, anti-surveillance. Nothing could be further from the truth. The politicians are all the same. Many want zero privacy and total control from the right-wing perspective. Even more want zero privacy and total control from the left-wing perspective.

Do not trust the government, do not trust policemen, do not ever trust former policemen, do not trust what the official justification is (child P**N, terrorists).

Create your small group of trusted people, do not use emails, do not use unencrypted communication, do not use Google/Facebook and associated services (like Whatsapp). If you use Apple or Android, use it as a completely clear device (no cloud backup, no autoconnected accounts) disconnected from your identity. For communication use FOSS software with encryption; for online backups, always use your own encryption beforehand.

 

[clemens]

Anyone who thinks government access to your private messages is about protecting children is sadly mistaken.

Did you believe that? If so, you must believe Santa is real

 

[Martin Everson]

Did you believe that?

????

Clearly I don't as indicated...lol.

 

[Silvio]

Guys I hate to break it to you but the Americans can listen to all of you whether you are in the EU or not. There is always someone with the capability to listen to you.

Every time I see these "Oh leave the EU right now"- and go where?

You prefer being listened to in Dubai where the govt actively blocks WhatsApp calls (and probably puts their own SSL certs so they can listen)
Is it better to live in the US and be listened to by the government directly? Or do you prefer to live in Thailand where the govt also actively censors the internet? No need to even mention HK, China, etc.

 

[Martin Everson]

You prefer being listened to in Dubai where the govt actively blocks WhatsApp calls (and probably puts their own SSL certs so they can listen)
Is it better to live in the US and be listened to by the government directly? Or do you prefer to live in Thailand where the govt also actively censors the internet? No need to even mention HK, China, etc.

You think EU does none of this or is not planning to do any of this?

 

[VincentS]

Plus there will always be some smart a*s who says “what’s the problem, I have nothing to hide”

When someone answers you "I have nothing to hide", then ask this person the cellphone and the password, because you want to take a look what's in it for 10 minutes. When that person angrily tells you won't do, it's when you can tell : "Didn't you say you have nothing to hide??"

 

[clemens]

You think EU does none of this or is not planning to do any of this?

they plan and will do it. It is a matter of time before they will slowly begin the process to implement it all over the EU region.

 

[Silvio]

You think EU does none of this or is not planning to do any of this?

99% they already do it to "extremists" and their definition of extremists is extending daily.
Anybody that believes WhatsApp is really end-to-end encrypted is living in a fantasy.

My point was that it's not better to be surveilled by Dubai/HK or the US than being survilled by the EU. For god's sake the US was even listening to Merkel If they're listening to her they can defo listen to you and anybody here. Moving to some shithole halfway around the world won't help you as dictatorial governments are even more likely to be interested in what you are saying.

If the state deems you a target you will be hacked, it's only a matter of resources. The key is just not to become a target of the state. Live low-profile quiet life and most likely nobody will bother you.

 

[FixieHartmann]

Is there actually a „first-world“ country left where the government is not trying to establish a Chinese style surveillance state?

 

[melzvy]

Anybody that believes WhatsApp is really end-to-end encrypted is living in a fantasy.

not only whatsapp encryption

People believe that encryption is a bullet proof thing.... not anymore with the correct technology, and only some have this tech and is hidden.

 

[Golden Fleece]

Is there actually a „first-world“ country left where the government is not trying to establish a Chinese style surveillance state?

Yes, all of them. While there is certainly a trend of greater surveillance, nothing comes close to China.

Most people do not understand the Communist Chinese mindset or what goes on in China. The Chinese have a completely alien form of thinking, a vastly different history, and mass collective psychology. Most Chinese people have no problem trading freedom for a daily guarantee of food.

It is like comparing an octopus to a shark. Yes, they both live in the water . . . but that is about it. The worst First World offenders during COVID (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc.) do not remotely resemble China, which literally boarded up people in buildings to starve.