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On my resignation as regulator of the Dutch intelligence and security services - Bert Hubert's writings
a day ago
- The author served as one of three members of the Dutch TIB board, which reviews warrants for intelligence and security services before they are executed.
- The TIB’s prior approval was binding and worked well; services stopped activities if found unlawful, and the system was efficient and self-regulating.
- Proposed changes to Dutch intelligence law would eliminate the author’s role (technical risk analysis), reduce regulation on bulk interception, add algorithmic analysis without external approval, and shift oversight from ex-ante to ex-post.
- The author believes ex-post oversight is less effective because it can overload regulators, especially given the difficulty of recruiting skilled technical experts, and is vulnerable to 'starve the beast' tactics.
- The author resigned to speak publicly against the new law, which they see as democratic backtracking, and offers their services as a regulator willing to resign when things go wrong.
Alles voor de kinderen, maar doe dan wel het juiste - Bert Hubert's writings
a day ago
- The current EU CSAM proposal would create mass surveillance of all Europeans by US tech companies, scanning private WhatsApp photos and potentially reporting them to police, without effectively tackling child abuse.
- Child abuse investigations suffer from chronic backlogs and lack of resources; investing in more skilled detectives and better IT would be a more direct solution.
- Experts warn that the proposed scanner would generate a flood of false reports, overwhelming police, and drive abusers to unregulated platforms like Telegram.
- The proposal is driven by commercial interests and has been repeatedly rejected by the European Parliament, yet it keeps returning under the guise of protecting children.
- Alternative measures include adding warning buttons in chat apps, parental alerts, and targeting persistent hosts of illegal content rather than implementing widespread monitoring.
- Once implemented, the automatic scanner would be permanent and could be expanded beyond child protection, eroding privacy for all Europeans.
EU Parliament greenlights Chat Control 1.0 – Breyer: "Our children lose out"
20 days ago
- The European Parliament allowed the suspicionless mass scanning of private communications (Chat Control 1.0) to pass, despite a majority of voting MEPs opposing it, due to procedural rules requiring an absolute majority to reject.
- An exemption for encrypted communications was adopted, but in practice, service providers do not scan these anyway. An amendment to restrict scanning to suspects identified by the judiciary also failed to secure the required majority.
- Critics, including Dr. Patrick Breyer, warn that Chat Control damages democracy, jeopardizes genuine child protection, and serves as a smokescreen that delays real action while overwhelming police with false alarms.
- The interim regulation will remain in effect until 2028 or until a permanent agreement is reached. Negotiations for permanent law (Chat Control 2.0) will resume in September, with disputes over indiscriminate vs. targeted scanning.
- Under Chat Control 1.0, US tech companies can scan private messages without a warrant on platforms like Instagram and Gmail, but end-to-end encrypted chats (e.g., WhatsApp) and European providers are exempt.
- Data shows that mass scanning has limited effectiveness: abuse reports from the US dropped by 50% due to encryption, only 36% of reports came from private chats in 2024, and many alerts are not criminally relevant or target minors.
- Survivors of sexual violence argue that untargeted Chat Control does not help victims, emphasizing the need for privacy to seek justice and criticizing it as a tool for Big Tech profiteering and state mass surveillance.
- Negotiations for a permanent CSAM Regulation are stalled as EU member states insist on voluntary, suspicionless scanning, while the Parliament advocates for targeted detection orders, an EU Child Protection Centre, and strict security standards.

mass surveillance

On my resignation as regulator of the Dutch intelligence and security services - Bert Hubert's writings

Alles voor de kinderen, maar doe dan wel het juiste - Bert Hubert's writings

EU Parliament greenlights Chat Control 1.0 – Breyer: "Our children lose out"