The EU is moving to pass the âChat Controlâ law, and it targets private messaging.
The updated draft drops the word âmandatory,â but it still allows services like WhatsApp, Signal, and iMessage to scan messages and photos on usersâ devices if they choose to. Thatâs essentially mass surveillance, just presented in a softer way.
Germany and Poland are pushing back. France, Denmark, and several other countries are trying to get it approved quickly. The vote is scheduled to happen this week, out of public view and without a real parliamentary discussion.
If it passes, private conversations across Europe could be subject to automated scanning, and billions of people would lose one of the last spaces where communication was genuinely confidential.