Will WhatsApp, iMessage or Signal soon be able to see your messages? These messengers are known by users to offer end-to-end message encryption. Only the sender and the recipient thus have access to the content of the messages, with no possibility for the companies themselves or another third party (for example, the police) to access the exchanges. But this principle has been questioned by various European countries for several months, in particular the obstacle that these messaging systems would have become in the fight against the spread of child pornography content.
In a document of the Council of the European Union dated April 12, 2023 and made public by Wired, 20 European countries gave their point of view on end-to-end encryption as a brake on the fight against sexual abuse of minors. . . They were also asked if they are in favor of the evolution of the Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (or CSAR, “regulation intended to prevent child sexual abuse”). France is not one of the countries surveyed in the document.
Crypto ban for Spain
And Spain is thus showing severity on the issue, claiming to want to completely ban end-to-end encryption of conversations. “Ideally, for us, it would be desirable to prevent by law EU-based service providers from implementing end-to-end encryption,” Spain said. In effect, this would be equivalent to forcing companies like Apple (iMessage) or Meta (WhatsApp) to end the protection of the privacy of conversations.
Of the twenty countries surveyed (including Ireland, Germany, Italy and Belgium), fifteen thus declare themselves in favor of some kind of control of encrypted messages, without being as radical as Spain. Italy, for its part, described this measure as disproportionate: “Imposing an automatic obligation to verify messages would represent a general control over all encrypted exchanges on the web. It seems inappropriate to alter the current system, which seems to offer a good balance with respect to Privacy”.
Finland, for its part, would like more information on the solutions that could be provided to achieve this “deciphering”, so as not to be against its constitution. Because it remains to find a solution to implement this control, in order to scan the messages without altering the encryption. However, according to many specialists, this process is still impossible to implement.
“A threat to privacy”
Last April, WhatsApp had already raised the issue during the debates in the United Kingdom on the “Online Security Act”. This British bill is supposed to better regulate digital platforms in the territory, as it will no longer be subject to European rules and the future Digital Market Act and Digital Services Act. The bill includes, among other things, limits on message encryption.
“This bill represents an unprecedented threat to the privacy and security of not just UK citizens, but the people they communicate with around the world, while also encouraging other governments to draft bills. similar laws”, WhatsApp then reacted in an open letter, also signed. by the leaders of Element and Signal apps.
The document of the Council of the European Union for the moment only serves as a reference. No actual measures have yet been announced.
Source: BFM TV
