ITI, Industry Coalition Call to Preserve Encryption in Child Sexual Abuse Regulation
BRUSSELS – Today, global tech trade association ITI, the Information Technology Industry Council, joined groups across the tech industry to call on the Member States to preserve both safety and privacy in the Council position on the Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Regulation. That can only be done by preserving the integrity of end-to-end encryption (E2EE). This call gains increasing importance in view of the latest developments in the Council Law Enforcement Working Party.
“We urge Member States to discard any proposal that would mandate access by any third party to communications and digital data which are not meant to be accessed, read or edited, before or during transmission of such data or while the data is at rest” the coalition wrote. “The proposal can be improved to the benefit of all users, including children, by enabling the proactive processing of personal and other communications data, which includes voluntary detection and prevention, by all number-independent interpersonal communication service (NIICS) providers in order to tackle CSA on their services.”
“The tech industry takes seriously the need to protect children online and is committed to implementing effective measures to do so. In such a delicate matter, we urge lawmakers to move responsibly and carefully to develop solutions that strike a proper balance, also preserving privacy and security,” said ITI Policy Manager for Europe Laura Wiesenfeld. “This means creating an intentionally weighted system of voluntary detection in number-independent interpersonal communication service (NIICS) that can work effectively with law enforcement while maintaining safeguards to encrypted communications.”
Read the full statement here.