Signal President Warns Against Chat Control and Rising AI agent Risks
meredith Whittaker, President of the non-profit Signal Foundation and head of the Signal Messenger app, is strongly opposing proposed EU legislation that woudl require messaging apps to scan user content for child sexual abuse material before encryption. The proposal, debated for three years, would necessitate a content-checking mechanism within apps like WhatsApp, Signal, telegram, and Threema.
Whittaker firmly stated that Signal will not compromise its end-to-end encryption, which she emphasizes “guarantees the privacy of millions and millions of people around the world, frequently enough also in life-threatening situations.” She views the proposed “chat control” as fundamentally flawed,arguing,”It is unfortunate that politicians continue to fall for a kind of magical thinking that assumes that you can create a back door that only the good ones have access to.”
The EU Parliament has largely opposed such plans, but a majority within the Member States Council supports chat control. Implementation has been stalled due to opposition from Germany and other nations, a situation that could shift under Denmark’s current presidency.
the German federal government’s position remains unclear. While the coalition agreement affirms a commitment to digital essential rights and the confidentiality of private communication, the qualifier “in principle” raises concerns that exceptions – potentially including backdoors in secure messaging apps – could be permitted.
Whittaker indicated Signal is prepared to explore all options to avoid compliance with such legislation, including working with partners and the community, mirroring actions taken when the app was blocked in Russia and Iran. “but in the end we would leave the market before we had to comply with dangerous laws like this,” she asserted.
Growing Concerns Over AI Agents
Beyond chat control, Whittaker also issued a warning regarding the increasing use of AI agents – software robots utilizing artificial intelligence to perform tasks autonomously on behalf of users.These agents, she explained, “require enormous access options and almost unlimited authorizations,” gaining access to sensitive applications and services including calendars, email accounts, messaging apps like Signal, and even credit card information.
To effectively counter potential spying facilitated by these AI agents, Whittaker believes operating system manufacturers – Microsoft (Windows), Google (Android), and particularly Apple (iOS) - have a responsibility to build in defenses at the development level, creating mechanisms to object to overly broad access requests from these agents.
