Global Encryption Steering Committee Statement on the Passing of UK’s Online Safety Bill
Logo of the Global Encryption Coalition (GEC). Black text on a white background, with multi-colored squares (dark orange, dark yellow, dark blue, and light blue / green) forming a + symbol.
On 19 September 2023, the UK Parliament passed the Online Safety Bill, a critically flawed legislation when it comes to encryption that puts the safety of everyone online at greater risk than ever.
The Online Safety Bill gives a UK regulator, Ofcom, the power to compel platforms to conduct mass surveillance by scanning content using technologies which would undermine the security and privacy provided by end-to-end encryption.
Safe versions of these scanning technologies do not exist and are unlikely to ever exist.
Our concerns over this power are shared by civil society groups both within the UK and internationally, academics and researchers, industry, and members of the general public.
British Public Oppose Secret Surveillance Powers and Want Strong Protections for Encrypted Communications
CDT released nationally representative polling data revealing that a the British public are broadly concerned about the security, privacy, and free speech consequences of allowing law enforcement to access encrypted communications.
Responding to the EU-US Negotiations on Reciprocal Data Exchanges for Border Procedures
CDT Europe, together with 29 other civil society organisations and academics, sent an open joint letter to the Council of the EU regarding the worrying direction taken by the European Commission in the EU-US border negotiations with the U.S. government.
Open Joint Letter on a Public Reassessment of the EU-US Adequacy Decision
On 29 June, the US Supreme Court ruled that US President Trump can remove the leaders of independent agencies and commissions, overturning nearly 90 years of precedent limiting executive power. This decision raises serious questions about one of the key safeguards underpinning the EU-US Data Privacy Framework adopted in 2023: independent supervision.
Return of Mass Scanning of Private Communications through Undemocratic Procedure
CDT Europe responds to the European Parliament's vote to revive the interim derogation from the ePrivacy Directive, commonly known as “Chat Control 1.0”, which provides the legal basis for the voluntary, indiscriminate scanning of private communications for known and new Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), and for the solicitation of children.
