Messaging app Signal has launched a fierce attack on the UK government's latest privacy proposals. According to the company, the plans risk creating an extensive surveillance infrastructure that could eventually be used far beyond the purpose of protecting children.
In one statement Signal warns that the UK wants content on devices sold or used in the country to be scanned for nude images through a combination of age verification and content analysis directly on users' phones.
Signal: ”Will not protect children”
Signal writes:
”The UK government's requirement that all content on any device sold or used in the UK be scanned on the assumption that it contains nudity... will not protect children. It puts us all at risk.”
It argues that the technology risks paving the way for wider surveillance and censorship in the future.
Warns of increased control
In the statement, Signal argues that surveillance tools rarely remain limited to their original purpose.
”Once created, they will expand and form a dangerous tool that will be used both in the UK and abroad to censor and monitor.”
The proposal comes at a time when the debate on client-side scanning is ongoing in both the UK and the EU.
Points to other solutions
Signal argues that children's safety should instead be strengthened through education, social interventions and clearer rules for AI platforms.
The conflict illustrates the growing tug-of-war between governments seeking to combat cybercrime and tech companies warning that new security measures could erode the right to private communications.
A new data center is apparently being built in Avesta. What will it be used for?
The corrupt leaders of European countries fear their own people, which is why they want to establish total control over them so they can more easily punish those who do not fall in line.