The Council of European Professional Informatics Societies (CEPIS) urges Members of the European Parliament to firmly defend the Parliament’s recent democratic decision to end untargeted mass scanning of private digital communications. CEPIS reiterates its strong opposition to the indiscriminate surveillance measures contained in the Commission’s proposed extension of Regulation (EU) 2021/1232 (“Chat Control 1.0”), which is due to expire in April 2026.
On 11 March, the European Parliament voted to restrict scanning of private messages exclusively to individuals or groups targeted by judicial suspicion. CEPIS fully supports this rights‑respecting, evidence‑based approach. The Council’s refusal to compromise during trilogue negotiations—and current attempts to force a repeat vote to overturn Parliament’s mandate—pose a serious threat to democratic process and citizens’ trust in EU institutions.
Since the ‘chat control’ proposal was first presented, CEPIS has been repeatedly insisting that renewing blanket scanning powers would represent a fundamental breach of privacy rights for 450 million Europeans while failing to deliver meaningful child protection outcomes:
- No proven effectiveness: The European Commission’s own 2025 report has found no demonstrated link between mass scanning of private messages and successful prosecutions or child rescues. Offenders can easily evade these measures by shifting to unscanned platforms.
- High error rates and technical unreliability: AI‑based classifiers for images and text show error rates of up to 20%, while research has demonstrated that widely used perceptual hashing systems such as PhotoDNA can be manipulated to evade detection or generate false reports. These systems cannot assess context or intent and risk overwhelming law‑enforcement authorities with non‑actionable alerts.
- Legal pathways already exist: Even without the extension of Chat Control 1.0, police retain full capability to scan public posts and hosted content, perform targeted interception with judicial oversight, and act on user reports—ensuring no “legal gap” in child‑protection efforts.
Chat Control 1.0 was explicitly introduced as a temporary, exceptional measure. Extending this mass surveillance regime would break that commitment and undermine the EU’s credibility. Both the European Parliament’s 2023 position on the long‑term CSAR framework and its 11 March 2026 vote signal a clear preference for targeted, lawful, and privacy‑respecting investigative tools rather than broad, suspicionless monitoring.
CEPIS urges Members of the European Parliament to uphold the Parliament’s mandate by:
- Supporting the removal of the repeat vote from the 25 March agenda.
- If a repeat vote proceeds on 26 March, voting in favour of the previously adopted amendments—especially Amendment 35, which prohibits indiscriminate scanning—and rejecting any final text that reinstates mass surveillance.
Luis Fernandez-Sanz, CEPIS President, stated: “The protection of children must go hand in hand with the protection of fundamental rights. Untargeted scanning is not only ineffective; it is incompatible with the core values of a democratic, rights‑based Europe. CEPIS stands ready to support EU institutions in developing secure, evidence‑based, and proportionate digital policies that strengthen both safety and fundamental rights.”
More information on the developments of the ‘chat control’ regulation can be found on this dedicated website.
