The head of the Signal app has criticized plans in the EU to allow messengers to have backdoors to enable automatic searches for criminal content. Signal is considered one of the most secure messengers.
It’s understandable from law enforcement perspective that it’s important to snoop on actual criminal communications. The EU has pretty reasonable measures and good at cracking down on continental-wide criminal activities. However, can we trust authorities that they won’t over reach with the chat control and violate privacy and freedom of speech? Like, come on, nothing good ever came from spying on communications. Catching criminals and/or terrorists is a convenient excuse to spy on dissidents.
We’ve seen it happen in America with the PATRIOT Act. People dismissed the opposition to it with “nothing to hide” thought terminating cliche, or accuse you of pedophile or terrorist for not wanting spying on communications. Then twenty years later, Americans have a fascist government who allowed a corporate asshole to steal information from the federal government. And those information will be used for surveillance capitalism. The same will happen to us in the EU if we don’t push back hard on this Orwellian desires of politicians.
Basically, but what you forget is that Signal is also the standard for every Politician for their group chats because it’s secure, so the idea that they might lose their secure, leak-free* form of communication should worry MEPs and other politicians into taking action. Will it? I don’t know, politicians are very stupid when it comes to tech it seems.
I’m sure some poor Civil Servant has had to sit one of them down and explain why it’s a bad idea to them, only be told to stfu with the most stupid excuse ever, leading to them putting their head in their hands and sobbing.
Haha! Do it if the EU does not give up on their Orwellian control!
Wait, I’m in the EU and I use Signal!
Why are so many European countries doing this? Why the sudden push for chat control and internet restriction laws?
It’s understandable from law enforcement perspective that it’s important to snoop on actual criminal communications. The EU has pretty reasonable measures and good at cracking down on continental-wide criminal activities. However, can we trust authorities that they won’t over reach with the chat control and violate privacy and freedom of speech? Like, come on, nothing good ever came from spying on communications. Catching criminals and/or terrorists is a convenient excuse to spy on dissidents.
We’ve seen it happen in America with the PATRIOT Act. People dismissed the opposition to it with “nothing to hide” thought terminating cliche, or accuse you of pedophile or terrorist for not wanting spying on communications. Then twenty years later, Americans have a fascist government who allowed a corporate asshole to steal information from the federal government. And those information will be used for surveillance capitalism. The same will happen to us in the EU if we don’t push back hard on this Orwellian desires of politicians.
Basically, but what you forget is that Signal is also the standard for every Politician for their group chats because it’s secure, so the idea that they might lose their secure, leak-free* form of communication should worry MEPs and other politicians into taking action. Will it? I don’t know, politicians are very stupid when it comes to tech it seems.
* Baring screenshots
They are so so so stupid, about this.
There will be so much blackmail and ruined political careers if these backdoors get installed.
A backdoor is never solely used by the folks one might hope would use it.
I’m sure some poor Civil Servant has had to sit one of them down and explain why it’s a bad idea to them, only be told to stfu with the most stupid excuse ever, leading to them putting their head in their hands and sobbing.
There’s an explicit clause that exempts politicians from the ban. They get privacy because they need it, but nobody else does.
That’s completely backwards. The the extent we give people authority, they must also accept monitoring, so we know they aren’t abusing that authority.
Ooh how convenient.
Screenshots, or just adding a journalist to the group chat.
no software can prevent PEBKAC errors. It’s like locking a door and then giving the key to a thief and being shocked when people steal your shit
where are the companys lobbying against this btw?? i mean it is their data they will be leaked aswell
If they can lobby they’ll just lobby to get all their competitors’ data after it passes.
That is also a good point. Generally this is dangerous for all and sundry.
Why would they care about leaks? I guess that’s some missed profit on selling the data, but that’s only if there’s a breach.
i mean like company espionage and similar threats than leaked user data…