German government says it will oppose EU mass-scanning proposal | CyberScoop<\/title> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"Despite fears from privacy advocates, officials from the ruling party said mass-scanning proposals like Chat Control should be \u201ctaboo in a constitutional state.\u201d\"> <link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/germany-opposes-eu-chat-control-mass-scanning-privacy\/\"> <meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"> <meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"> <meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"German government says it will oppose EU mass-scanning proposal\"> <meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Despite fears from privacy advocates, officials from the ruling party said mass-scanning proposals like Chat Control should be \u201ctaboo in a constitutional state.\u201d\"> <meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/germany-opposes-eu-chat-control-mass-scanning-privacy\/\"> <meta property=\"og:site_name\" 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<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-mobile\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"stickybar\" class=\"stickybar stickybar--newsletter js-stickybar\" readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"25.983633387889\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"35.007025761124\">\n<p> Despite fears from privacy advocates, officials from the ruling party said mass-scanning proposals like Chat Control should be \u201ctaboo in a constitutional state.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>  <br \/>\n<audio id=\"audio-player\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-tts-cdn.api.scpnewsgrp.com\/cyberscoop\/86285\/english.openai.mp3\"><\/audio> <\/p>\n<div readability=\"11\">\n<div>\n<p>Listen to this article<\/p>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p>0:00<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p> <span id=\"tts-tooltip\">Learn more.<\/span> <span> This feature uses an automated voice, which may result in occasional errors in pronunciation, tone, or sentiment. <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/german-government-says-it-will-oppose-eu-mass-scanning-proposal.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/german-government-says-it-will-oppose-eu-mass-scanning-proposal-2.jpg 7500w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/german-government-says-it-will-oppose-eu-mass-scanning-proposal-2.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/german-government-says-it-will-oppose-eu-mass-scanning-proposal-2.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/german-government-says-it-will-oppose-eu-mass-scanning-proposal-2.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/german-government-says-it-will-oppose-eu-mass-scanning-proposal-2.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/german-government-says-it-will-oppose-eu-mass-scanning-proposal-2.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/german-government-says-it-will-oppose-eu-mass-scanning-proposal-2.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/german-government-says-it-will-oppose-eu-mass-scanning-proposal-2.jpg?resize=252,168 252w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/german-government-says-it-will-oppose-eu-mass-scanning-proposal-2.jpg?resize=506,337 506w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/german-government-says-it-will-oppose-eu-mass-scanning-proposal-2.jpg?resize=1013,675 1013w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/german-government-says-it-will-oppose-eu-mass-scanning-proposal-2.jpg?resize=1265,843 1265w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1013px) 100vw, 1013px\"><figcaption> Despite fears from privacy advocates, officials from the ruling party said mass-scanning proposals like Chat Control should be \u201ctaboo in a constitutional state.\u201d (Image via Getty) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"30.861845807541\"><body readability=\"62.291666666667\"><\/p>\n<p>Encryption lives on in Europe. For now.<\/p>\n<p>The German government has said it will oppose a piece of European Union legislation later this month that would subject phones and other devices to mass scanning \u2014 prior to encryption \u2014 by the government for evidence of child sexual abuse material. <\/p>\n<p>Federal Minister of Justice Stefanie Hubig was one of several officials from the ruling Christian Democratic Union party to reiterate over the past 24 hours that Germany\u2019s position hasn\u2019t changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMass scanning of private messages must be taboo in a constitutional state,\u201d Hubig said, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/bmjv_bund\/status\/1975846115263312139\">statement<\/a> on X from the Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection Wednesday. \u201cGermany will not agree to such proposals at the EU level.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Another CDU member, Jens Spahn, <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/eckstein.bsky.social\/post\/3m2m73jqlcs2t\">told<\/a> German journalist Phillip Eckstein of ARD-Hauptstadtstudio that those sentiments are widely held within the party.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe, as the CDU\/CSU parliamentary group, are against the random monitoring of chats,\u201d Spahn said, according to a machine-translated transcript. \u201cThat would be like opening all letters as a precaution and checking whether there\u2019s anything illegal in them. That\u2019s not possible, and we won\u2019t allow that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The statements came after a week where tech experts and privacy activists in Europe <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/potential-eu-law-sparks-global-concerns-encryption-privacy\/\">publicly warned<\/a> that Germany \u2014 which had opposed the measure since its introduction in 2022 and operated as a key swing vote \u2014 was preparing to back the measure in an upcoming Oct. 14 vote.<\/p>\n<p>The German government did not respond to requests for comment from CyberScoop earlier this week, and other parties have said efforts to communicate with German officials about their intentions were met with \u201csilence\u201d and \u201cstonewalling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The prospect of having all digital messages \u2014 and possibly other content like audio and video \u2014 scanned before encryption would defeat the very purpose of encryption and create an untenable situation, according to Meredith Whittaker, CEO of encrypted messaging app Signal. Whittaker threatened that her organization was prepared to pull out of Europe over the proposal.<\/p>\n<p>Germany\u2019s about-face likely won\u2019t mark the end of this dispute. Western governments in the U.S. and Europe have been seeking to place limits on encrypted communications for decades, arguing that end-to-end encryption with no means of access for law enforcement makes it harder to investigate horrific crimes like pedophilia, terrorism and cybercrime. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Earlier this year, Apple <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/apple-uk-encryption-advanced-data-protection-privacy\/\">pulled<\/a> its own end-to-end encryption feature in the U.K. after British national security officials sent the company a letter demanding access to encrypted iCloud data for law enforcement and national security investigations.<\/p>\n<p>There are indications that criminal suspects are increasingly turning to encrypted communications to hide evidence of their criminality. But privacy advocates have pointed out that strong encryption also protects many law-abiding citizens from potential government repression.<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"3.7126654064272\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"13\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/german-government-says-it-will-oppose-eu-mass-scanning-proposal-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Derek B. Johnson\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Derek B. Johnson<\/h4>\n<p> Derek B. Johnson is a reporter at CyberScoop, where his beat includes cybersecurity, elections and the federal government. Prior to that, he has provided award-winning coverage of cybersecurity news across the public and private sectors for various publications since 2017. Derek has a bachelor\u2019s degree in print journalism from Hofstra University in New York and a master\u2019s degree in public policy from George Mason University in Virginia. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> <\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__ads js-single-article-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-5 ad--rightrail_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-4 ad--rightrail_2 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-3 ad--rightrail_3 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> 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{"id":8061,"date":"2025-10-08T09:41:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T14:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=86285"},"modified":"2025-10-08T09:41:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T14:41:06","slug":"german-government-says-it-will-oppose-eu-mass-scanning-proposal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2025\/10\/08\/german-government-says-it-will-oppose-eu-mass-scanning-proposal\/","title":{"rendered":"German government says it will oppose EU mass-scanning proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"