Signal’s president, Meredith Whittaker, has strongly criticized a revised proposal by the European Union (EU) that aims to surveil encrypted chats under a new name. The EU Commission initially introduced the Chat Control law in mid-2022, seeking to enforce rules that would compel messaging apps to create a backdoor for end-to-end encrypted messages. Although the EU Parliament committee voted against mass screening encrypted telecommunications in November last year, a revised version of the law now proposes an alternative method called “upload moderation” to combat online child sexual abuse material. Whittaker argues that this relabeling is simply an attempt to undermine encryption, which in turn makes it easier for hackers and hostile nation states to exploit private chats. She emphasizes that end-to-end encryption is crucial for privacy in an era of extensive state and corporate surveillance and must be safeguarded at all costs.
The revised Chat Control law proposal would require telecommunication service operators to implement a system for “upload moderation” to combat child exploitation material. This could involve subjecting everyone’s private chats to mass scanning against a curated database or using artificial intelligence to detect unacceptable speech and content. However, Whittaker dismisses these attempts as mere “embarrassing branding exercises” that fail to deceive encryption experts, urging lawmakers to stop playing word games. She asserts that it is irrelevant whether the breach occurs through tampering, forcing chats to pass through a surveillance system before encryption, or any other means.
Signal, known for its use of elliptic curve cryptography as a public key cryptosystem to support end-to-end encryption in its messaging, audio, and video services, hinted at leaving the UK market last year after the passage of the Online Safety Bill, which could potentially provide authorities with a backdoor to end-to-end encryption services. Additionally, Signal has embraced cryptocurrencies, similar to its competitor Telegram, and started accepting donations in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and 10 other coins in March 2021 to support the Signal Technology Foundation.
(Source: Meredith Whittaker)