The EU Chat Control Compromise Still Threatens Private Communication
The EU Council dropped mandatory scanning but made voluntary surveillance permanent. Privacy concerns remain.
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.
The Council dropped mandatory scanning of all private messages. Instead, the compromise makes voluntary scanning by providers permanent and introduces risk-based obligations. Services classified as high-risk face pressure to adopt detection measures. 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. 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, and the European Court of Human Rights ruled that weakening encryption violates the right to private life. 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.