End-to-end encryption is the last bastion of security and privacy for the user. This makes it virtually impossible to access private information in chats on messaging services or files in the cloud that have encryption enabled.
The only way to access the encrypted content would be precisely weaken this security system, something that certain member countries of the European Union would be in favor of in order to stop the spread of child sexual abuse material. Among these countries is Spain. And it is that our representatives in the European Union seem to have exercised an extremist position and in favor of the prohibition of encryption in Europe, according to a leaked document obtained by Wired.
Several countries express their support for repealing encryption, including Spain
The document, which can be seen in its entirety here, is a European Council survey on the views of EU member countries on the regulation of encryption. It is proof that many member states of the European Union have shown strong support for proposals to scan private messages for illegal content. Spain’s response to the survey can be seen on the last two pages of the document.
The proposal by Ylva Johansson, the EU commissioner in charge of home affairs, seeks to stop the spread of child sexual abuse material in Europe. The proposed law would require tech companies to scan their platforms, including users’ private messages, for illegal material. However, this proposal has drawn criticism from cryptographers, technologists, and privacy advocates due to its potential impact on end-to-end encryption.
This document reveals that the majority of the representatives of countries of the European Union would be in favor of some kind of system to break end-to-end encryption in case it was necessary to prosecute illegal actions. According to Wired, Spain would have taken one of the most extreme positions in terms of legally prohibiting service providers based in the European Union from implementing end-to-end encryption on their platforms.
Some countries, such as Spain, Poland, Cyprus and Hungary, have clearly stated their intention to have access to people’s encrypted messages, arguing that they need this capability to investigate crimes of online sexual abuse.
The leaked document contains the position of members of the “Law Enforcement” Working Group, a group within the Council of the European Union that deals with law enforcement views on legislation. According to the document, most countries expressed support for the idea of scanning end-to-end encrypted communications for child sexual abuse material.
Several countries, including Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands, expressed support for scanning encrypted messages for child sexual abuse material, but also backed protecting end-to-end encryption to avoid weakening it. However, cryptography and cybersecurity experts have argued that it is technically impossible to scan encrypted messages without weakening the strength of the encryption.
Some countries, such as Spain, Poland, Cyprus and Hungary, clearly stated their intention to have access to people’s encrypted messages and argued that need this capability to investigate online sexual assault crimes. However, these approaches have been criticized for their lack of understanding of encryption and its security implications.
“Cyprus, Hungary and Spain clearly see this law as their opportunity to break into encryption systems and weaken encrypted communications, and that to me is alarming.says Elle Jakubowska, policy adviser at European Digital Rights (EDRI).They are seeing that this law goes far beyond what it is for according to the General Directorate of the Interior“, keep going.
On the other hand, countries like Italy, Estonia and Germany expressed strong support for end-to-end encryption and the protections it provides. These countries viewed proposals to scan encrypted messages as representing widespread and disproportionate control of encrypted messaging services on the web.
Riana Pfefferkorn, a researcher at the Internet Observatory at Stanford University in California, who reviewed the document at the request of Wired, comments that “Responses from countries such as Finland, Estonia and Germany show a fuller understanding of what is at stake in the CSA rule discussions.“.”The regulation will not only affect criminal investigations of a specific set of crimes; affects governments’ own data security, national security and the privacy and data protection rights of their citizens, as well as innovation and economic development“, keep going.
the debate continues
These types of proposals have generated all kinds of debates at the international level. While we have already seen examples of governments like the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and many others seeking to implement laws to repeal end-to-end encryption in order to prosecute child sexual abuse, the issue is complicated when the privacy of users is put at stake.
WhatsApp recently published an open letter in which it is completely against banning encryption systems, a direct shot at the UK bill to ban encryption in favor of criminal investigation.
Image | robin worral
More information | Wired
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