Patrick Breyer

> What were the security problems?

> They don't even allude to the existence or detection of any specific security problems

Arguably the product itself. Which is another reason they might be vague about it. Because to talk about those security problems would taint the entire product and they can't do that if they aren't willing to completely scrap it.

People have been talking about how the data in here is similar to what may be already existing but that's far from the truth. Yes, these companies have a lot of data on us, but this is a significant step forwards in the granularity of that data. It's also worth noting that hackers could not get into your computer and assume that your computer not only has a keylogger that they can access to further compromise your system (and other systems/accounts) but that they can also obtain screenshots. These increase user risk significantly and greatly reduce the requisite technical skill needed for those infiltrating machines.

Similarly, many have pointed out the potential connections to Chat Control[0] and how such systems can likely be used by many companies to be exploitative of workers. While you may trust your company/partner/significant others/government and so on, it is important to remember that not everyone has such luxuries. It is also important to remember that such things can change. Even in the US there are high risks of potential abuse: such as police obtaining a warrant to get this data to see if someone is trying to…

I stumbled upon this job posting from the Deutsche Bundesbank [1] (the central bank of Germany) and felt a strong moral obligation to share it. Although the job posting is in German, it does not state that speaking German is a requirement (just English).

They are looking for a senior software developer for developing the Digital Euro. You need a Master's degree in IT or a related field, knowledge of Crypto (tokens) and CDBCs and speaking English. Bonus points for experience in backend development (in fast compiled languages, e.g. Go, Scala, Rust) and knowledge of the European payment network. Pay is according to TVöD E13 [2], although with some extra perks.

Why am I sharing this?

I am just a regular European folk working as a dev in Germany. I am more on the junior end of the spectrum, but being an insider has made me already realize that the logic that we put into the systems that we develop has consequences in terms of social dynamics, politics, etc. In addition, a good design can greatly boost the benefit that we bring to society.

An example of a choice having political consequences is using the regular client-server architecture. Although simple and advantageous for many applications, it also has the immediate consequence of being easy to control by a single party. I will not go much into whether this is good or bad, but just point out that such an architecture facilitates the implementation of things like ChatControl [3]. If the developer has some power to decide…

More in-depth information:

https://netzpolitik.org/2021/eu-commission-why-chat-control-is-so-dangerous/

Including for example:

"According to a legal opinion by Prof. Dr. Ninon Colneric automated scanning could indeed be illegal. Surveillance without a specific reason or reasonable suspicion is prohibited in the EU due to the fact of its violation of fundamental rights. The European Court of Justice has repeatedly confirmed this view and, for example, reproved the retention of data on a number of occasions.

Nevertheless, attempts to revive the data retention zombie with legal tricks have not died down. The demand can be found regularly in council papers of various EU countries. Thus, this type of mass surveillance is still part of the German Telecommunications Act („Telekommunikationsgesetz“), although being currently suspended."

The open letter, linked in the article, is also a good read:

https://www.patrick-breyer.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/20211020_Letter_General_Monitoring.pdf

Notably:

"Individuals,
businesses and government rely on end-to-end encryption to safeguard their personal, commercial and
state secrets. The safety of individuals (e.g. witnesses, officials) depends on secure encryption protecting
their confidential communications. Backdoors can and will be abused by criminals, foreign intelligence
services and forces that seek to destabilise our society. The Commission keeps reiterating its
commitment to not generally weaken…

I am the creator of Fight Chat Control.

Thank you for sharing. It is unfortunately, once again, needed.

The recent events have been rather dumbfounding. On March 11, the Parliament surprisingly voted to replace blanket mass surveillance with targeted monitoring of suspects following judicial involvement [0]. As Council refused to compromise, the trilogue negotiations were set to fail, thus allowing the Commission's current indiscriminate "Chat Control 1.0" to lapse [1]. This would have been the ideal outcome.

In an unprecedented move, the EPP is attempting to force a repeat vote tomorrow to overturn the March 11 decision, seeking to overturn the otherwise principled decision and instead favouring indiscriminate mass-scanning [1, 2]. In an attempt to avoid this, the Greens earlier today tried to remove the vote from the agenda tomorrow, but this was voted down [3].

As such, tomorrow, the Parliament will once again vote on Chat Control. And unlike March 11, multiple groups are split on the vote, including S&D and Renew. The EPP remains unified in its support for Chat Control. If you are a European citizen, I urge you to contact your MEPs by e-mail and, if you have time, by calling. We really are in the final stretch here and every action counts. I have just updated the website to reflect the votes today, allowing a more targeted approach.

Happy to answer any questions.

[0] https://mepwatch.eu/10/vote.html?v=188578

[1]…

It's quite interesting, that while this topic comes up from time to time (it has been going on a long time after all already), people on here seem to seldom talk about the organizations that lobby for this proposal for years, with big ties to the US and intelligence agencies. So this is by no means just an European phenomenon but there seems to be a much bigger agenda behind it all.

Now, at the moment, I don't have a good english language source, but I am sure someone else could provide one?

Here is a german language one[0], from netzpolitik.org, who follow chat control for years now an have many articles going in depth about this. I am sure you could use translation software to read it until someone provides a better source. (And if you have not heard of this, you should!)

And while someone already linked to patrick breyers website[1] which has a good overview, I do so again so maybe more people will see it. This thing is not new, but it is also not easily ignored and everyone should be informed whats going on here. They will try to pass this again and again since they have done for years now and it's mostly been close calls until now.

[0] https://netzpolitik.org/2023/anlasslose-massenueberwachung-recherchen-decken-netzwerk-der-chatkontrolle-lobby-auf/

[1] https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/posts/chat-control/

If I correctly understand the linked materials by Patrick Breyer [1], then the parliament (which is the piece of the E.U. where we are presently asked for our vote), is opposed to this pretty much in its entirety: It says "Parliament has positioned itself almost unanimously against indiscriminate chat control." So, it seems, the way you vote here doesn't much affect that outcome at all.

Also, if I correctly understand this table [2], then "Renew" (formerly "ALDE") is also opposed, so you don't need to adopt the leftist political ideology of the Greens as a package, just to get pro-privacy representation in the European Parliament. "Renew" does seem to be a viable "libertarian" alternative there. They also make some pro-privacy representations on their website. I don't follow European politics much, so I may be mistaken here. For example, I haven't looked into their voting record.

[1] https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/posts/chat-control/ [2] https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/posts/chat-control/#negotiators