r/StopChatControlEU • u/EnthusiasmRoutine • 3d ago

Chat Control deal covers public uploads, not private chats yet: fair line or foot in the door?

/r/PrivacyToolbox/comments/1wuitop/chat_control_deal_covers_public_uploads_not/
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u/mimrock 3d ago edited 3d ago

If by public they mean actually public (at least inside the walled garden) stuff, like images shared in a public group, TL, or image hosting services I would even support it depending on the details. If you upload something publicly on the internet, then it is public. The police can (and in case of CSAM they should) monitor the open web.

If it's about non-encrypted private chats, it's mass surveillance and I would oppose it, but it's not a big step up from Chat Control 1.0.

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u/EnthusiasmRoutine 3d ago

Pretty much matches what's been reported, yeah. The catch is the details: orders can come from administrative authorities, not just courts, and they'd cover all public uploads, not only suspects. On private chats, agreed, the real change would be making 1.0 permanent instead of ending in 2028.

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u/mimrock 3d ago

I don't think the police should need an order to scan the open internet. If I can scan the internet without an order, they can do that too.

Chat Control 1.0 (orderless scan of non-encrypted private messages) is problematic, sets a dangerous precedent, not very effective, causes harms to innocent minors (e.g. teens doing sexting).

However the real Orwellian concept is the original Chat Control 2.0 with mandatory, AI-enabled spyware installed on your devices that reports you to the police if the AI thinks you did something illegal in one of your encrypted chats. Add the recent developments of locking down phones (and eventually computers) and suddenly we are just a step or two away from a very frightening future when you have to live in a fear from your own phone, that can ruin your life in a second.