The negotiations on the EU draft regulation to combat online child sexual abuse (CSA Regulation) are currently entering a decisive phase.

In a joint statement, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) have called on the EU legislator to support the main amendments proposed by the European Parliament (EP).

The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI), Professor Ulrich Kelber, said:

‘Screening all private message content is not an option. The Commission’s draft regulation in its original form must therefore not be realised. The European Parliament’s proposals point the way forward, as they provide for more targeted detection of online child sexual abuse. ‘Prof Ulrich Kelber

At the same time, the BfDI shares the criticism expressed by its European colleagues regarding the EP’s formulation of so-called disclosure orders: ‘I hope that the EU legislators will be able to agree in the trilogue negotiations that disclosure orders will only be used as a last resort and targeted at specific suspected persons or groups of persons. Anything else is the start of mass surveillance without cause.’

In its report, the EP addressed many of the criticisms made in the joint opinion of the EDPB and EDPS in July 2022. However, it had left open the question of whether private communications could also be read beyond the specific suspects. The EP’s proposal also aims to keep scanning for previously unknown child pornography material possible, although the technologies used for this purpose still have high error rates.

https://www.bfdi.bund.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/DE/2024/01_CSA-Verordnung.html