Signal's President Criticizes EU's Amended Chat Control Legislation as Undermining Encryption
Summary:
Signal President, Meredith Whittaker, criticizes the amended EU's Chat Control legislation which seeks to monitor encrypted chats. The law could compel messaging apps to create a backdoor to end-to-end encrypted messages. Whittaker states that the term 'upload moderation' is a tactic to undermine encryption, making chats susceptible to hackers and adverse states. While the law aims at combating child exploitation content, Whittaker believes these measures undermine encryption and privacy. Signal uses elliptic curve cryptography for its services and has started accepting cryptocurrency donations to aid its work.
Signal's president, Meredith Whittaker, has criticized a recent amendment to a European Union proposition that aims to monitor encrypted chats under a "fresh brand". The EU Commission originally introduced the Chat Control legislation in mid-2022, seeking to implement regulations that would essentially compel messaging applications to devise a secret access point to end-to-end encrypted messages. Despite being dismissed by an EU Parliament committee in November of the previous year, a modified version of the law, employing a different approach to mass scanning termed "upload moderation", is now on the table to fight online child sex abuse content.
In a proclamation issued on June 17, Whittaker said the new terminology “upload moderation” was just another strategy to “weaken encryption,” allowing easier access for hackers and adversarial countries to infiltrate private conversations. “The claim that 'upload moderation' does not weaken encryption because it happens before the message or video is encrypted is not accurate,” said Whittaker.
Whittaker maintained that end-to-end encryption was a vital technological tool for maintaining privacy in a time of overwhelming state and corporate surveillance and, as such, its preservation was paramount.
The latest version of the Chat Control legislation stipulates that telecommunication providers would be required to arrange a method for "upload moderation" to counter child exploitation content. Suggestions include a mass scanning of everyone's private messages against a state-managed database or the utilization of an artificial intelligence model to identify inappropriate speech and materials. However, Whittaker asserted these "ill-conceived rebranding attempts" were not fooling those with an understanding of encryption, and she urged lawmakers to put an end to these "linguistic games."
She argued that the mode of encryption breach, be it through meddling, forcing conversations to pass through a surveillance network prior to encryption, or any other method, was irrelevant. "It is a loophole, regardless of if we name it a secret entry, a main entrance, or 'upload moderation.' No matter what we label it, every single one of these routes opens up a vulnerability that could be misused by hackers and adversarial states, stripping away the shield of uncrackable mathematics and inserting a desirable vulnerability in its stead."
Signal employs elliptic curve cryptography to support its end-to-end encrypted messaging, audio, and video services. Last year, the company suggested it might exit the UK market following the enactment of the Online Safety Bill, which might authorize officials to exploit a 'backdoor' in end-to-end encryption services. Signal has begun accepting donations in Bitcoin, Ether, and ten other cryptocurrencies since March 2021 on par with its competitor, Telegram, in the interest of bolstering the Signal Technology Foundation.
Published At
6/18/2024 3:44:39 AM
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