Following the European Commission’s proposal to fight child abuse on the internet, data protection activists are launching a protest campaign against the automated analysis of private chat communications. “stopscanningme.eu” (“stop scanning us”) is the name of the campaign launched by epicenter.works and the international organization European Digital Rights (EDRi).
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson’s proposal “ais for the noble goal of protecting our children from sexual abuse, but misses it across the board and even introduces many additional problems,” the epicenter.works data protection officers emphasized in a statement. press release.
Rather than tackling the complex societal problem at the root, “an error-prone mechanism should monitor all digital communications and examine them for suspicious material.” This should then be sent to the newly established “EU Child Sexual Abuse Center (EUCSA)”, which would also work closely with the EU police authority Europol.
This check is technically only possible by bypassing encryption. “No one can rely on the confidentiality of his or her communications any more,” the organization warned. Journalists, doctors, lawyers, whistleblowers, psychologists, human rights activists, members of the opposition and minorities would be particularly vulnerable to these measures.
“So the proposal not only violates EU law at various levels, but above all endangers those it is supposed to protect,” emphasizes Epicenter.works. Because the abolition of confidential communication also means that anonymous online counseling would no longer be possible for victims of sexual abuse, because control would also play a role here. “Confidential exchanges with the pediatrician, photos of the last bath trip or consensual sexting among young people would also be highly likely to be classified as suspicious and have to be manually sorted out by people.”
Prevention instead of surveillance
The privacy advocates propose investing in awareness, education, prevention and assistance. “All of this is not only much better tailored to the underlying problem of child abuse, but can also be done without gross violations of fundamental rights.”
In mid-May, the European Commission presented a draft law aimed at combating the distribution of child pornography on the Internet. According to Johansson, the text that the EU countries and the European Parliament now have to negotiate contains a specific procedure. Therefore, all companies must first analyze the risk of child porn being shared on their pages. If so, countermeasures must be taken. This makes it much harder for criminals and pedophiles, Johansson said. If this is not sufficient, a so-called “detection order” for scanning the contents may be ordered by a court or other independent authority.
Johansson points to further precautions to protect privacy, for example when looking for care stores. Grooming is when adults abuse contact with minors with intent. Johansson recently explained that since the relevant technology is not yet that accurate, hits should always be human-checked before the actual cases are forwarded to law enforcement agencies. The design does not dictate technology.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
