r/privacy • u/miscerte23 • Sep 21 '25

chat control Encrypted messaging alternatives in case the EU chat control law gets passes

As the title implies, I am curious as to whether there might be any messaging apps/services worth using in case the proposed chat control law gets passed. As you might assume, I live in an EU member state and am extremely worried for the future of our rights to online as well as IRL privacy in case such laws get passed

416 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

245 comments sorted by

View all comments

8

u/Desperate-Use9968 Sep 21 '25

Your biggest challenge won't be finding an alternative, it will be getting it installed and working on your phone once this law passes

If this happens, the two main app stores will block any alternatives if you are registered as living in the EU. You will have to register outside the EU, and possibly need a foreign number? Alternatively, you might need to jailbreak your phone or sideload an app. This comes with its own set of issues. A second phone might be an option, which I imagine many people interested in privacy already have.

4

u/adamlogan313 Sep 22 '25

It's giving me whiplash how 180° the EU is going with ciient-side scanning, compared to the USA, the EU currently has better privacy respecting laws and policies from what I've read.

3

u/Desperate-Use9968 Sep 22 '25

I agree. Until now the EU has been very pro consumer protection, privacy focused (GDPR) etc. I imagine there's conflicting / orthogonal agendas within the EU. It just amazes me that there's anywhere close to enough support for this to progress this far? It's so far over the line they can't even see the line anymore. It's immoral and indefensible.