Our privacy is at risk - once again, constantly!

You might be thinking right now? "What? Where is our privacy at risk?" But it's happening quietly again, mostly on purpose, because very few people take a proactive interest in topics like data protection, net neutrality and privacy in the digital space. As long as WhatsApp, TikTok and the like are running, everything is fine, right?! No, it isn't, because right now politicians are once again deciding on an issue they don't really understand technically, but that would affect all of us. Big Brother in the EU is coming...

I'm talking about the so-called chat control, intended to detect and punish child pornography. Let me make one thing clear right away: sexualized violence against children is an abhorrent and serious crime that should be punished far more severely. Nevertheless, the European Commission under Ursula von der Leyen has just presented a draft law that, under the guise of protecting children, would result in every one of our communications being monitored. The draft provides that communication and hosting providers can be required by order to scan private content. The hope is that this will, for example, provide clues to grooming, i.e. when adults contact children in order to initiate sexualized contact. But the end does not justify the means. For this reason, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) have truly torn the EU Commission's draft apart in a 36-page paper. Among other things, it speaks of:

• "Interference with the confidentiality of communications would become the rule rather than the exception."
• "Serious concerns regarding the proportionality of the envisaged interference and limitations to the protection of the fundamental rights to privacy and the protection of personal data."
• "Too much room for potential abuse due to the absence of clear norms."
• "It cannot be ruled out that voice messages and phone calls will also have to be screened."

To sum it up briefly: I wonder how a draft like this can even be drawn up when such fundamental attacks on a free internet and on privacy are built into it? What are the politicians thinking?

We must not forget that it is easier to block a law than to change it afterwards once it has become law. What prevents a future (populist) government from expanding the law and using the scans for other things? For example, to go after whistleblowers or political opponents? Nothing – and that's exactly why something like this must never be drafted, let alone become law! The data protection authorities point this out too, saying that this law "would be the basis for general and indiscriminate scanning of the content of virtually all types of electronic communication of all users" in Europe.

I find it utterly incomprehensible that I even have to mention at this point that those who plan a crime can quickly acquire the necessary know-how to get around the scans themselves. So once again, it hits the wrong people. End-to-end encryption is useless if providers are legally forced to be able to read content.

Let me say this: I love new technologies! I'm absolutely convinced that they can help solve some of the most pressing problems of our time. Whether it's new ways of generating energy (nuclear fusion) or climate protection. I also believe that in Germany the data protection argument is too often misused to block and question new technologies and products from the outset.

Nevertheless, with the GDPR we have been given an effective tool that allows us to find out where online services collect data. Yet conversely, authorities are now supposed to be enabled to carry out mass surveillance – that simply doesn't add up.

And we would have a unique opportunity: digital transformation, net neutrality and data protection do not contradict each other! On the contrary: so much good could come of it if you looked at everything together. Unfortunately, the public is all too often given the impression that data collection is only bad in the private sector, but absolutely necessary at the government level.

Back then, I was already out on the streets protesting against Article 13 (keyword: upload filters). At the time, the idea was that platforms should be obliged to check content for copyright infringements while it was still being uploaded and, if necessary, block it right away. We have MEP Axel Voss (CDU) to thank for the fact that exactly these automated upload filters are coming – with all the problems and errors pointed out at the time.

The current draft on chat control also provides for automated scanning mechanisms. Apparently, people believe our AI algorithms are free of errors or bias. I wonder how many politicians have any experience at all with training an artificial neural network on training data. It is never free of errors. That's also the danger when older people in politics decide on topics and technologies they don't understand. They don't have to be experts, but it's striking that there is a big know-how gap when it comes to digital skills. I can't base my legislation on certain technologies if I don't understand them.

We all still remember the outcry from the so-called Querdenker when platforms like Twitter or Facebook blocked deliberate misinformation. Under the guise of supposed freedom of expression, hate and incitement were to be legitimized. Every platform basically has the right to censor itself, and even today I can't just say anything I feel like saying. It is also a fine line you walk when you block information per se, because the question always arises of who ultimately decides what is false and what isn't.

But did you know that, according to Reporters Without Borders, Germany is also one of the countries classified as an enemy of the internet?

Freedom of the press and freedom of information are among the highest goods of our society. It's no coincidence that these rights are the first to be curtailed in authoritarian states. Among friends and family, I often hear the argument that you have nothing to hide anyway. I like to respond with a quote from Edward Snowden:

Laws like the chat control now being proposed offer more points of attack against things like net neutrality and personal data protection.

After all, it's not only countries like China that carry out mass surveillance and want the transparent citizen*. In the EU, too, there are forces calling for more surveillance, regardless of the consequences and dangers for the future.

It's not as if all you can do on this issue is watch. So, to close, I'd like to give an overview of how each of us can get involved with just a few clicks and help preserve a free internet.

• Send this open letter as a reminder to your political representatives
• Share this article and talk about it with your friends and family
• Read up on this topic – e.g. at https://netzpolitik.org/; https://edri.org/our-work/protecting-digital-rights-and-freedoms-in-the-legislation-to-effectively-tackle-child-abuse/
• Support organizations that work to protect our privacy online and for transparency: Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte e.V.; netzpolitik.org