An investigation uncovers a web of influence in the powerful coalition aligned behind the European Commission’s proposal to scan for child sexual abuse material online, a proposal leading experts say puts rights at risk and will introduce new vulnerabilities by undermining encryption.
I don't understand how "client-side scanning" - i.e. an invasive piece of code pushed by OS makers to YOUR computer or mobile device to scan YOUR files without your consent - is even being discussed.
This is tantamount to an Apple or Google rep forcibly entering your house, sitting on the couch next to you in your living room and reporting to the mothership or the police what you watch on TV. People would take to the street if this was mandated by law. Yet they seem to be waiting for the Apple or Google rep to sit on their device and report what files you have in it with complete resignation.
How did we get here? This obscene proposal would have been a major scandal not 25 year ago. Actually it wouldn't even have been proposed at all. But today it's on the verge of becoming law! The mind boggles...
Oh, something very similar has been proposed already some time ago, just under the guise of stopping terrorism. That excuse evidently doesn't work anymore.
Yeah but that's different: you entrust files to Google drive. It's their digital real estate: I expect them to do whatever they want with what you put on it. If you don't want false-positives, don't send your files to Google.
But your cellphone or your computer at home is your digital real-estate. It's your home. I for one do not welcome Google in my home, and I absolutely refuse to let them see what's inside my home.
Because really, client-side scanning is nothing more than home invasion.