Stop ChatControl
The European Union, defender of privacy, now wants to scan ALL your private messages. Your digital freedom is at stake.
"We must break with the completely erroneous perception that communicating in encrypted messaging services is a civil liberty for everyone."
— Peter Hummelgaard, Danish Justice Minister and architect of the ChatControl proposal.From Privacy Hero to Surveillance State
Remember GDPR? The EU earned its reputation as the global guardian of our data. Now, under the pretext of combating child abuse (CSAM), a law called "ChatControl" is being processed that represents a 180-degree turn.
This proposal would force applications like WhatsApp, Signal, or Telegram to scan the content of all your messages, photos, and files BEFORE they are encrypted and sent. In other words, they would install a "spy" on your own phone.
Most alarming is that all this is happening with almost zero media coverage and without real public debate. A decision affecting hundreds of millions of citizens is being made behind closed doors.
The Battle in Europe: Who's for and who's against?
The proposal needs a qualified majority to be approved. Currently, there's a blocking minority that stops the measure, but the situation is fragile.
How does it directly affect you?
1. The end of secrecy and privacy
"End-to-end encryption" that protects your conversations would cease to be effective. Even though the message travels encrypted, its content would have already been analyzed on your device. It's like forcing you to hand over a copy of all your letters before putting them in the envelope.
2. An open door for hackers
Creating a "backdoor" to scan content is a monumental security risk. Once it exists, it won't only be used by authorities. It could also be exploited by criminals or authoritarian governments to spy on journalists, activists, or any citizen.
3. We're all suspects by default
Unlike a police investigation that requires a court order, ChatControl applies mass and generalized surveillance, violating the principle of presumption of innocence.
4. Your privacy in the hands of US companies
The EU would force companies like Meta and Apple to implement this technology. Our most intimate data would be processed by American corporations, subject to their country's surveillance laws. Goodbye to European digital sovereignty.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
But isn't this a necessary measure to protect children?
Child protection is fundamental, but ChatControl is a disproportionate and ineffective tool. It's like installing cameras in all homes to prevent robberies: a massive violation of privacy that, moreover, would generate an enormous amount of false positives.
"If invading my privacy will stop terrorists and pedophiles, then go ahead..."
I understand the argument, but listen to this: invading everyone's privacy doesn't effectively stop terrorists or pedophiles—studies like those by Mueller and Stewart (2011) show that mass surveillance has minimal impact compared to targeted methods. Moreover, creating "backdoors" in encryption (as ChatControl proposes) exposes everyone, including the vulnerable, to hackers and authoritarian governments. It's not security; it's a gift to the bad guys.
"It seems like they want to control us indiscriminately and it's not true"
Let's look at the facts: ChatControl forces scanning of all messages and photos, even encrypted ones, without need for suspicion, according to the plan being voted on October 13-14. This isn't "indiscriminate" control on a whim, but a real policy that hands over our data to foreign companies and creates massive vulnerabilities, as cybersecurity experts warn. It's not paranoia; it's reality.
I use WhatsApp/Signal, aren't I protected by encryption?
That's the key point. The scanning would be performed on your own device (called "client-side scanning") BEFORE the message is encrypted. Therefore, encryption becomes irrelevant for this type of surveillance.
Is this even legal?
It's highly questionable. It directly clashes with European legislation itself, such as Articles 7 and 8 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the principles of GDPR. Numerous legal experts have warned of its possible illegality.
What can I do to oppose this?
Citizen pressure is the only way to stop it. Inform your friends, share this page, contact your representatives in the European Parliament, and support organizations like EDRi.
What's your source?
Here's the full text of the proposal. You can use an AI like ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, or Grok to read it and answer questions based on this document. You'll see it fully matches my claims, because I did the same to create this page.