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Mullvad VPN «mass surveillance of the EU»
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Mullvad VPN «mass surveillance of the EU»

This is a quite interesting to hear from a VPN provider like Mullvad

Stop the proposal on mass surveillance of the EU
The European Commission is currently in the process of enacting a law called Chat control. If the law goes into effect, it will mean that all EU citizens' communications will be monitored and listened to.

This text was originally published as a debate article in the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet and it calls on Swedish politicians to vote against the law proposal. In order for the law to not become reality, more countries need to vote against it. Therefore, we encourage journalists and citizens in all EU countries to question their governments and urge them to vote no.

Right now, the EU Commission is intensely working on a legislative proposal that would monitor and audit the communication of all European Union citizens. The regulation is called Chat Control, and it really does include all types of communication. This means that all of your phone calls, video calls, text messages, every single line that you write in all kinds of messaging apps (including encrypted services), your e-mails — yes, all of this — can be filtered out in real time and flagged for a more in-depth review. This also applies to images and videos saved in cloud services. Basically, everything you do with your smartphone. In other words,** your personal life will be fully exposed to government scrutiny**. So, why is it that almost no one is talking about this?

These types of legislative proposals that fully affect and encroach on people's lives — the equivalent of which can only be found in totalitarian states like China — should be discussed on every other news broadcast, and column after column should be written about it in editorial pages. The EU Commissioner responsible for this proposal is Ylva Johansson. Why aren't journalists pursuing her? Why don't they demand answers from the government?

When the so-called 'espionage law' was recently implemented, it required an amendment to the Constitution. Such a thing should not be done hastily. A constitutional amendment needs to be approved by two different parliaments in order for journalists to have enough time to raise the issue and give the people a chance to form an opinion and make their voices heard. But what happened to those discussions? At that time, the Swedish association of journalists woke up way too late. The fourth estate is one of our democratic cornerstones, and Chat Control might make its work more difficult in the long run. We hope that this time, journalists will wake up sooner with a terrible vengeance. But time is running out.

The politicians proposing this legislation claim to be doing it for the sake of the children. The purpose of implementing Chat Control is to be able to detect child pornography and child grooming. But is the purported end the reason why we are not discussing the means? At least, that's the impression one gets from Ylva Johansson's rhetoric. When she speaks about this legislative proposal, she only talks about the children, not about the effect this totalitarian surveillance will have on society. She isn't talking about how it will affect people's basic rights or about other more adequate law enforcement measures. Ylva Johansson, why can't you debate the tools and their consequences instead of using the children as your protective shield?

At an EU conference in January, Ylva Johansson said that a court order would be required to carry out surveillance operations. But this legislative proposal isn't designed that way. Either Ylva Johansson, as the EU commissioner in charge of this proposal, is painting a completely inaccurate picture for her EU colleagues, or she has no idea how her proposal is written. She has previously stated that it is possible to carry out this type of mass surveillance while still protecting people's privacy. However, that is just not the way technology works. Ylva Johansson, how can you make a legislative proposal that the UN human rights commissioner has torn to shreds, a proposal that counters the European Convention on Human Rights and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights? And how can you be sure that such a system will never be used for any other type of surveillance?

When the National Defense Radio Establishment (NDRE) law was implemented in 2008, the Director-General of NDRE, Ingvar Åkesson, wrote that "there is this idea that the NDRE is going to listen to all Swedes' phone calls and read their e-mails and text messages. A disgusting thought. How can so many people believe that a democratically elected parliament would treat its people so badly?"

However, 13 years later, in May 2021, Sweden was found by the European Court of Human Rights to have violated personal privacy due to the NDRE law. The Swedish government was urged to immediately correct these problems of legal uncertainty. Instead, however, the parliament did the exact opposite: they voted to extend the NDRE law in November 2021.

This change in purpose that comes with mass surveillance is a huge problem and should at least be of interest to our journalists. Once a massive system for communication surveillance is put in place, it will be very easy to switch the filter at any given time. It can be switched before you say the word 'constitution'. Journalists who, for example, want to maintain the anonymity of their sources should be very concerned about this.

Let's be very clear here. Simply implementing this legislation in its current state will be a violation of all EU citizens' privacy. These types of AI systems are not very precise and will thus wrongly select family vacation photos from the beach, video calls with online doctors, intimate text messages between partners, and conversations from dating apps. On the one hand, there is a risk of flooding the police with the task of going through all the material, which will steal resources that could be used to chase those who create this type of material. On the other hand, there is the obvious risk that people's most intimate but completely legal images will end up in the wrong hands.

However, the biggest problem isn't the direct consequences; it's what's waiting around the corner. We will start self-censoring ourselves. In the first place, this will concern material that we believe might get caught in this filter. When there is a change in what is mass-monitored, when we can only guess who is monitoring our communications and with what agenda, we will change our behavior based on that. That is how the democratic functions of a society are worn down. If we install these types of back doors, that is the point at which our freedom will slowly slip away. If we don't want to try to close them in a raging storm, we better not open these doors at all.

About Sweden:

Sweden is currently serving as chairman of the EU's Council of Ministers, and, in the end, both Sweden's EU parliamentarians and Sweden in the Council of Ministers will vote on the issue. We will send letters to the politicians involved and ask them to vote against this law. And if someone else opens and reads these letters somewhere along the way, that person would violate postal secrecy, which is regulated in Sweden's constitution. This person could then be sentenced to up to two years in prison, a slightly different view of privacy than the one expressed in the Chat Control proposal.

Mullvad VPN

Source: Mullvad VPN Blog

What you think about this? Should be a concern not only for Hosting Providers but for those who protects the privacy with services? Apps?

Thanked by 2treesmokah jsg
«1

Comments

  • If you think this is new, especially during war, you are an idiot. Just let me be a couch zombie and consume Netflix and McDonalds until im forced to be a meatbag at the frontlines

  • Mass surveillance? That's okay. I've got nothing to hide.

  • treesmokahtreesmokah Member
    edited February 2023

    @inland said:
    Mass surveillance? That's okay. I've got nothing to hide.

  • Hate how the EU is doing good and super bad things. Just leave me alone, I have nothing to hide so keep your fucking fingers out of my business and chats. Go make anonphone 2.0 or something. You need to target criminals not the whole population.

  • That whole message has to do with the phone industry, so called terrorism prevention. That is a thing for telecommunication companys, they might decide with google and UE what to do. That isnt affecting the TV and music industry, as they acting themselves with proper rules.

  • Should be the whole world I'm afraid

  • EUdSSR

  • EwwU

    And we thought India/china was bad coming to mass surveillance

  • As a very new law student, I think a lot of the above is just false. But I'm not 100 %.

    1. Postal law is not regulated in our constitution, it's regulated in our "Postlag"
    2. Our postal service very recently (last year I think) got permission to open packages that they deem may contain illegal contents

    The law: https://rkrattsbaser.gov.se/sfst?bet=2010:1045 (definitely not our constitution)

  • davidedavide Member
    edited February 2023

    @emgh said:
    As a very new law student, I think a lot of the above is just false. But I'm not 100 %.

    1. Postal law is not regulated in our constitution, it's regulated in our "Postlag"
    2. Our postal service very recently (last year I think) got permission to open packages that they deem may contain illegal contents

    The law: https://rkrattsbaser.gov.se/sfst?bet=2010:1045 (definitely not our constitution)

    Bah.

    Mail envelopes in Italy have a print under the foldable flap that says "leave this flap unobstructed for content inspection". Anecdote: some time ago a guy wanted to send me money by mail, and the envelope had already been "thoroughly inspected" when I received it.

    Thanked by 1kkrajk
  • vpnfailvpnfail Member
    edited February 2023

    @sandoz said:
    every single line that you write in all kinds of messaging apps (including encrypted services) [...] can be filtered out in real time and flagged for a more in-depth review.

    Really a classic example of legislation being created by people who have nothing to do with technology :smiley:

    I would say bring it on. It will only raise more awareness for encryption generally and bring attention to services that implement privacy-by-design.

  • jsgjsg Member, Resident Benchmarker

    Don't worry, EU-rope is the good ones, democracy, rule of law, and freedom, you know </sarcasm off>

    The real difference between China and EU-rope is that the Chinese know how limited their rights and freedom are ...

    Thanked by 2chihcherng that_guy
  • This is most likely just another crazy EU proposal that gets rejected by the parliament. It happens all the time.

    Thanked by 2Mumbly kait
  • @kasodk said:
    This is most likely just another crazy EU proposal that gets rejected by the parliament. It happens all the time.

    Exactly :)

    Thanked by 1kait
  • MumblyMumbly Member
    edited February 2023

    @davide said: Anecdote: some time ago a guy wanted to send me money by mail, and the envelope had already been "thoroughly inspected" when I received it.

    Manually? Millions and millions of envelopes daily? In this era? :smiley:
    Not even customs do this manually for most of the packages anymore. They use quick scanners you know :)

  • emghemgh Member
    edited February 2023

    Funny how no one seems interested in the fact that the blog post seems full of ”alternative facts” yet love to come here and bash the EU.

    No patience to find out the truth, opinion already decided upon.

  • @kasodk said:
    This is most likely just another crazy EU proposal that gets rejected by the parliament. It happens all the time.

    I hope you're right, otherwise I will declare my home as a embassy of a non-existing country.

  • @jsg said:
    Don't worry, EU-rope is the good ones, democracy, rule of law, and freedom, you know </sarcasm off>

    The real difference between China and EU-rope is that the Chinese know how limited their rights and freedom are ...

    I know that you are in favour of Russia but they can't be a excuse like to this "recently dump"

    https://www.ibtimes.com/hacker-group-releases-128gb-data-showing-russias-wide-ranging-illegal-surveillance-citizens-3663530

    EU is doing it bad. But others aren't far away...

    @emgh said:
    Funny how no one seems interested in the fact that the blog post seems full of ”alternative facts” yet love to come here and bash the EU.

    No patience to find out the truth, opinion already decided upon.

    Ask Mullvad VPN for futher details....

  • @davide said:
    Mail envelopes in Italy have a print under the foldable flap that says "leave this flap unobstructed for content inspection". Anecdote: some time ago a guy wanted to send me money by mail, and the envelope had already been "thoroughly inspected" when I received it.

    in France, La Poste, our mail service now scan letters and print it for the delivery. No more private content ...

  • @sandoz said:

    @jsg said:
    Don't worry, EU-rope is the good ones, democracy, rule of law, and freedom, you know </sarcasm off>

    The real difference between China and EU-rope is that the Chinese know how limited their rights and freedom are ...

    I know that you are in favour of Russia but they can't be a excuse like to this "recently dump"

    https://www.ibtimes.com/hacker-group-releases-128gb-data-showing-russias-wide-ranging-illegal-surveillance-citizens-3663530

    EU is doing it bad. But others aren't far away...

    @emgh said:
    Funny how no one seems interested in the fact that the blog post seems full of ”alternative facts” yet love to come here and bash the EU.

    No patience to find out the truth, opinion already decided upon.

    Ask Mullvad VPN for futher details....

    Don’t need to, it’s simply just false.

  • @commercial said:
    in France, La Poste, our mail service now scan letters and print it for the delivery. No more private content ...

    Imagine shipping money in an envelope thru La Poste... the bastards will do an excellent print job for all the experience the BCE gained to date.

  • ArkasArkas Moderator

    @kait said: Hate how the EU is doing good and super bad things

    Schizophrenia

  • @Arkas said: Schizophrenia

    Yes, luckily I live in the cloud so this doesn't effect me.

  • jsgjsg Member, Resident Benchmarker

    @sandoz said:

    @jsg said:
    Don't worry, EU-rope is the good ones, democracy, rule of law, and freedom, you know </sarcasm off>

    The real difference between China and EU-rope is that the Chinese know how limited their rights and freedom are ...

    I know that you are in favour of Russia but they can't be a excuse like to this "recently dump"

    https://www.ibtimes.com/hacker-group-releases-128gb-data-showing-russias-wide-ranging-illegal-surveillance-citizens-3663530

    Would you accept "information" about say US evildoing coming from a russian news source? Same with me and western lies and propaganda about Russia. I wouldn't believe them the time of day.

    Thanked by 1that_guy
  • @jsg said:

    @sandoz said:

    @jsg said:
    Don't worry, EU-rope is the good ones, democracy, rule of law, and freedom, you know </sarcasm off>

    The real difference between China and EU-rope is that the Chinese know how limited their rights and freedom are ...

    I know that you are in favour of Russia but they can't be a excuse like to this "recently dump"

    https://www.ibtimes.com/hacker-group-releases-128gb-data-showing-russias-wide-ranging-illegal-surveillance-citizens-3663530

    Would you accept "information" about say US evildoing coming from a russian news source? Same with me and western lies and propaganda about Russia. I wouldn't believe them the time of day.

    U can get it and check for yourself :)
    https://ddosecrets.com/wiki/Convex

  • jsgjsg Member, Resident Benchmarker
    edited February 2023

    @treesmokah said:

    @jsg said:

    @sandoz said:

    @jsg said:
    Don't worry, EU-rope is the good ones, democracy, rule of law, and freedom, you know </sarcasm off>

    The real difference between China and EU-rope is that the Chinese know how limited their rights and freedom are ...

    I know that you are in favour of Russia but they can't be a excuse like to this "recently dump"

    https://www.ibtimes.com/hacker-group-releases-128gb-data-showing-russias-wide-ranging-illegal-surveillance-citizens-3663530

    Would you accept "information" about say US evildoing coming from a russian news source? Same with me and western lies and propaganda about Russia. I wouldn't believe them the time of day.

    U can get it and check for yourself :)
    https://ddosecrets.com/wiki/Convex

    Thanks for making me laugh! (I mean it, no attack on you).

    • Gimme a couple of hours and I'll generate 100 something GB of "hacked" data ;)
    • One of their main sources is "kolektiva.social", a woke sh_ithole and openly biased against Russia. I quote, "WHAT YOU SHOULDN'T REALLY POST:
      ... Propaganda from the USSR, CCP, or DPRK ..." - western propaganda is fine though (of course, they themselves are western propagandists). Good news: they have an "agender" member (also known as deranged woke idiot).

    • as for ddosecrets, I might, if I were seriously drunk, trust them enough to tell me the colour of grass, but that's about it.

    Well noted, I'm not saying that Russia is perfect and never does anything wrong. What I'm saying is that I don't give a flying f_ck about "research" (i.e. propaganda) of some woke queer retards spreading biased and not credibly sourced propaganda BS.
    Btw, someone might wanna inform them that the "USSR" doesn't exist anymore since about 30 years ...

    Thanked by 3kait that_guy ntlx
  • @jsg said:

    @treesmokah said:

    @jsg said:

    @sandoz said:

    @jsg said:
    Don't worry, EU-rope is the good ones, democracy, rule of law, and freedom, you know </sarcasm off>

    The real difference between China and EU-rope is that the Chinese know how limited their rights and freedom are ...

    I know that you are in favour of Russia but they can't be a excuse like to this "recently dump"

    https://www.ibtimes.com/hacker-group-releases-128gb-data-showing-russias-wide-ranging-illegal-surveillance-citizens-3663530

    Would you accept "information" about say US evildoing coming from a russian news source? Same with me and western lies and propaganda about Russia. I wouldn't believe them the time of day.

    U can get it and check for yourself :)
    https://ddosecrets.com/wiki/Convex

    Thanks for making me laugh! (I mean it, no attack on you).

    • Gimme a couple of hours and I'll generate 100 something GB of "hacked" data ;)
    • One of their main sources is "kolektiva.social", a woke sh_ithole and openly biased against Russia. I quote, "WHAT YOU SHOULDN'T REALLY POST:
      ... Propaganda from the USSR, CCP, or DPRK ..." - western propaganda is fine though (of course, they themselves are western propagandists). Good news: they have an "agender" member (also known as deranged woke idiot).

    • as for ddosecrets, I might, if I were seriously drunk, trust them enough to tell me the colour of grass, but that's about it.

    Well noted, I'm not saying that Russia is perfect and never does anything wrong. What I'm saying is that I don't give a flying f_ck about "research" (i.e. propaganda) of some woke queer retards spreading biased and not credibly sourced propaganda BS.
    Btw, someone might wanna inform them that the "USSR" doesn't exist anymore since about 30 years ...

    I do not know if the data is real, that's why I linked it for Your own research.
    Regarding DDoS Secrets, they have a good track record. They do not vouch for provided information, they just put whatever looks the most promising.
    I can't speak on whether the website author is politically motivated or not.

    Thanked by 1kait
  • ArkasArkas Moderator

    @treesmokah said: I can't speak on whether the website author is politically motivated or not.

    At some level, everything is politically motivated. Think about it, even when you write unrelated posts, don't your political affiliations creep in. The good thing, in my case, I hope, is that I do have a political 'side' that I prefer, but I know it's politically motivated, if that makes sense.

    Thanked by 2kait jsg
  • @Arkas said:

    @treesmokah said: I can't speak on whether the website author is politically motivated or not.

    At some level, everything is politically motivated. Think about it, even when you write unrelated posts, don't your political affiliations creep in. The good thing, in my case, I hope, is that I do have a political 'side' that I prefer, but I know it's politically motivated, if that makes sense.

    You can be neutral but maintain a polítical preferences..

  • seb1gseb1g Member
    edited February 2023

    @jsg said:

    @treesmokah said:

    @jsg said:

    @sandoz said:

    @jsg said:
    Don't worry, EU-rope is the good ones, democracy, rule of law, and freedom, you know </sarcasm off>

    The real difference between China and EU-rope is that the Chinese know how limited their rights and freedom are ...

    I know that you are in favour of Russia but they can't be a excuse like to this "recently dump"

    https://www.ibtimes.com/hacker-group-releases-128gb-data-showing-russias-wide-ranging-illegal-surveillance-citizens-3663530

    Would you accept "information" about say US evildoing coming from a russian news source? Same with me and western lies and propaganda about Russia. I wouldn't believe them the time of day.

    U can get it and check for yourself :)
    https://ddosecrets.com/wiki/Convex

    Thanks for making me laugh! (I mean it, no attack on you).

    • Gimme a couple of hours and I'll generate 100 something GB of "hacked" data ;)
    • One of their main sources is "kolektiva.social", a woke sh_ithole and openly biased against Russia. I quote, "WHAT YOU SHOULDN'T REALLY POST:
      ... Propaganda from the USSR, CCP, or DPRK ..." - western propaganda is fine though (of course, they themselves are western propagandists). Good news: they have an "agender" member (also known as deranged woke idiot).

    I'm going to be honest here, rightoids crying about wokeness all the time are just as annoying (if not more) as certain people on the left who will cancel someone for the slighest grievance.

    Also, kolektiva.social is not mentioned or linked anywhere in that page.

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