European union chat surveillance

In 2013, former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden leaked US's National Security Agency (NSA) mass surveillance programs. NSA was collecting the telephone records of tens of millions of Americans, collected and stored 200 million text messages per day. NSA directly accessed servers of nine internet firms, including Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, to track online communication in a surveillance programme known as Prism. They also bugged Eurpean Union offices, and surveilled Japan, South Korea and India, Brazil and Mexico. These are only few examples.

The European union is currently proposing mandatory scanning of every private message, photo, and video in the name of stopping child sexual abuse. Research on this measure makes it clear that widespread scanning produces significant numbers of false accusations and is ineffective for the claimed purpose. It is also criticized fo violating the basic human right to privacy.