Subj : Chat Control: Can the EU
To : All
From : Mike Powell
Date : Sat Sep 20 2025 09:11 am
Chat Control: Can the EU Parliament save our encrypted chats?
Date:
Fri, 19 Sep 2025 17:00:00 +0000
Description:
As the so-called Chat Control has never been closer to become law, the EU
Parliament seems to be the only chance left to save encryption in Europe.
But, will the new squad live up to that promise?
FULL STORY
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After over three years in the making, the fate of encrypted chats in Europe
is anything but settled.
On September 12, 2025, EU members had to share their final position on the
latest iteration of the Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (CSAR) proposal. Yet
again, the bill failed to attract the needed support.
The Danish version of what critics have deemed Chat Control would require all
messaging service providers operating in Europe to scan users' chats even if
they're encrypted in a bid to detect and halt the spread of child sexual
abuse material (CSAM).
These new obligations and the risks they can lead to for people's privacy
and security not only have attracted strong criticism from digital rights
experts and technologists, but they also keep dividing the political ranks.
However, despite the proposal not receiving full support, the Denmark is
still moving forward. Another meeting is set for October 14 with the Justice
and Home Affairs Council.
If successful, the CSAR bill will finally land in the European Parliament to
be discussed as part of the trialogue negotiations, alongside the EU Council
and Commission. This brings us to the question will the Parliament save our
encrypted chats?
The EU Parliament "our only chance to save encryption"
"If the Danes do get it through in October, our only chance is that the
Parliament defends encryption in the trilogue negotiations," Director of
Government Affairs and Advocacy at the Internet Society, Callum Voge, told
TechRadar.
The good news is that the EU Parliament is against mass scanning on paper,
at least. In November 2023 , the vast majority of MEPs from both sides of the
political spectrum already agreed on safeguards to ensure that mass scanning
and general monitoring do not occur.
Then, in February 2024, the European Court of Human Rights made it illegal to
break encryption . That's the technical infrastructure that the likes of
Signal, WhatsApp, ProtonMail, and the best VPN services use to scramble our
online communications to prevent unauthorized access.
These actions combined then pushed the EU to adopt a two-year extension of
the interim regulation on voluntary chat scanning, waiting for the EU Council
to strike the right compromise on Chat Control. Did you know? (Image credit:
Getty Images) Despite not directly impacting the virtual private network
(VPN) service, VPN providers have so far been very critical of Chat Control,
too. While NymVPN 's CEO deemed it " a major step backwards for privacy ,"
the VPN Trust Initiative (VTI) a consortium that includes the likes of
NordVPN , ExpressVPN , and other big names has also stepped forward in
defense of strong encryption. You can read the VTI position paper (at the
link below).
Fast-forward to July 2025, and the Danish version came as the latest attempt
to find an agreement.
Crucially, the mandatory scanning is expected to occur directly on the device
before messages are encrypted, targeting shared URLs, pictures, and videos.
Only governments and military accounts are excluded from the scope of the
bill.
Experts, however, still believe such a client-side scanning system seriously
endangers encryption protections. A risk that pushed over 500 cryptography
scientists to sign a letter to warn against agreeing to the proposal in its
current form.
Hence, as the Chat Control has never been closer to becoming law, the EU
Parliament's role is set to be crucial.
There's just one problem now following last year's European elections, the
formation of the EU parliament has been completely reshuffled. And that's
something that makes digital rights groups like the Internet Society worried.
"As the new Parliament is more on the right now, my concern is how strong
they will hold their position," said Voge.
It's also fair to think that after over three years, the Parliament is eager
to close the Chat Control matter once and for all.
Back in August, the Parliament promised an extension of the interim
regulation only if an agreement is reached in the Council. A move that former
MEP for the German Pirate Party and digital rights jurist, Patrick Breyer,
deemed a " political blackmail ."
What's next for our private chats?
As per the latest data , 14 EU members support the proposal (including
crucial countries like France, Italy, and Spain), nine are against, and four
are still undecided.
Most notably, while Germany joined the opposition on the eve of the crucial
September 12 meeting, the country has now reverted to the undecided list.
Germany is thought to be the deciding factor, making Chat Control's critics
worried.
The previous government was indeed very pro-encryption seeking to make
encryption a legal right at home, while strongly opposing mandatory scanning
in the block. Yet, the new administration has been "giving very mixed
messages," Voge explains.
Voge is nonetheless pretty positive about the opposition holding through the
October meeting, with the Danes failing to get their proposal through. That
said, he recognizes the pressure on the Council to find an agreement as
"concerning."
He told TechRadar: "The only risk here is for the negotiations to be
political rather than technical. If that occurs, there is a risk of countries
changing their position in exchange for support on some other file. That's
why public pressure on this will be so vital, especially with the EU
Parliament remaining our best chance."
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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/chat-control-can-the-eu-par
liament-save-our-encrypted-chats
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