The EU Chat Control Compromise Still Threatens Private Communication
At HK Softworks we take privacy seriously. Most of our apps collect no data at all, and where we do collect data we keep it to the minimum necessary. Private communication is a basic right. On 26 November 2025, EU member states agreed on a common position for the Chat Control regulation.[1] The law is not in force yet, but it moved one step closer.
The Council dropped mandatory scanning of all private messages. Instead, the compromise makes voluntary scanning by providers permanent and introduces risk-based obligations.[2] Services classified as "high-risk" face pressure to adopt detection measures.[2] A new EU Centre on Child Sexual Abuse will manage databases and receive reports.
Critics argue this amounts to privatised surveillance. Companies face regulatory pressure to scan even without explicit mandates. German federal police report that around half of all flagged content is criminally irrelevant, meaning tens of thousands of innocent people have their photos and chats leaked to authorities each year.[3] Age verification requirements could also erode online anonymity, since proving your age typically means providing ID that could be stored and repurposed later.
End-to-end encryption remains contested. The European Parliament's position protects encrypted services from detection orders,[4] and the European Court of Human Rights ruled that weakening encryption violates the right to private life.[5] The final outcome depends on negotiations between the Council, Parliament and Commission.
This compromise is only the beginning. Once "optional" scanning infrastructure exists, legislators will face pressure to make it mandatory. Voluntary first becomes expected, then mandatory. Building surveillance tools today makes mass scanning inevitable tomorrow.
There is still time to act.
Visit fightchatcontrol.eu to learn more and contact your representatives before the final text is agreed.
Sources:
- TechRadar, 26 November 2025: "Chat Control: EU lawmakers finally agree on the voluntary scanning of your private chats"
- Patrick Breyer: "The temporary law on Chat Control 1.0 [...] is to be made permanent"; "Services that are likely to be used for illegal material or for child grooming are obliged to search the content of personal communication"
- Patrick Breyer, citing BKA: "around 50% of all reports are criminally irrelevant, equating to tens of thousands of leaked legal chats per year"
- EDRi, November 2023: "end-to-end encrypted private message services [...] are not subject to scanning technologies (Articles 7.1 and 10.3)"
- EFF, March 2024: "the mandate to decrypt end-to-end encrypted communications [...] cannot be regarded as necessary in a democratic society"