Chat Control: EU lawmakers finally agree on the voluntary scanning of your private chats

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Chat Control: EU lawmakers finally agree on the voluntary scanning of your private chats News By Chiara Castro published 26 November 2025

The agreement follows more than three years of disagreements

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Image credit: Pixabay (Image credit: Photo by Thomas Traasdahl / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP) / Denmark OUT (Photo by THOMAS TRAASDAHL/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images)

• The EU Council reached an agreement on the Child Sexual Abuse Regulation
• Voluntary chat scanning remains in the bill despite privacy backlash
• The Council now prepares to start negotiations with the Parliament

The EU Council has finally reached an agreement on the controversial Child Sexual Abuse Regulation (CSAR) after more than three years of failed attempts.

Nicknamed Chat Control by its critics, the agreement has kept cryptographers, technologists, encrypted service providers, and privacy experts alike in turmoil since its inception.

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Presidency after presidency, the bill has taken many shapes. But its most controversial feature is an obligation for all messaging service providers operating in the EU – including those using end-to-end-encryption – to scan their users' private chats on the lookout for child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

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At the beginning of the month, the Danish Presidency decided to change its approach with a new compromise text that makes the chat scanning voluntary, instead. That turned to be a winning move, with the proposal managing to reach an agreement in the Council on Wednesday, November 26, 2025.

Privacy experts are unlikely to celebrate, though. The decision came a few days after a group of scientists wrote yet another open letter warning that the latest text still "brings high risks to society." That's after other privacy experts deemed the new proposal a "political deception" rather than an actual fix.

The EU Council is now preparing to start negotiations with the European Parliament, hoping to agree on the final terms of the regulation.

What we know about the Council agreement

(Image credit: Pixabay)

As per the EU Council announcement, the new law imposes a series of obligations on digital companies. Under the new rules, online service providers will be required to assess how their platforms could be misused and, based on the results, may need to "implement mitigating measures to counter that risk," the Council notes.

The Council also introduces three risk categories of online services. Those deemed to be a high-risk can be forced "to contribute to the development of technologies to mitigate the risks relating to their services." Voluntary scanning also remains in the bill.

A new EU agency is then tasked to oversee the implementation of the new rules.

"I'm glad that the member states have finally agreed on a way forward that includes a number of obligations for providers of communication services to combat the spread of child sexual abuse material," said Danish Minister for Justice, Peter Hummelgaard.

But concerns about how the agreement threatens our digital rights persist, with one person on the forum, Hacker News, saying the Danish "government has today turned the EU into a tool for total surveillance, I don't know if there can be any return from."

As trilogue negotiations approach, the ongoing challenge for legislators remains striking the right balance between halting abuse online, without compromising on fundamental rights and strong encryption.

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CATEGORIES Cyber Security Computing Computing Security Chiara CastroSocial Links NavigationNews Editor (Tech Software)

Chiara is a multimedia journalist committed to covering stories to help promote the rights and denounce the abuses of the digital side of life – wherever cybersecurity, markets, and politics tangle up. She believes an open, uncensored, and private internet is a basic human need and wants to use her knowledge of VPNs to help readers take back control. She writes news, interviews, and analysis on data privacy, online censorship, digital rights, tech policies, and security software, with a special focus on VPNs, for TechRadar and TechRadar Pro. Got a story, tip-off, or something tech-interesting to say? Reach out to [email protected]

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Logout Read more "It's just smoke and mirrors" – Over 500 cryptography scientists and researchers slam the EU proposal to scan all your WhatsApp chats    Chat Control: Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Sweden shift their positions ahead of the October 14 meeting    The vote on Chat Control has been postponed, but the “fight isn’t over” yet – here's what we know    Chat Control: The list of countries opposing the law grows, but support remains strong    “Europe’s digital sovereignty at stake” – Europe's privacy-first tech unites against Chat Control    "A major step backwards for privacy" – The VPN industry speaks out against Chat Control    Latest in VPN Privacy & Security Black Friday shoppers advised to be cautious as fake Amazon, eBay websites soar    NordVPN just aced an independent lab evaluation, and the timing couldn't be better    I ditched Google for a secure alternative − now it's 50% off meaning you can too!    Fed up with data snoopers? Surfshark takes IP spoofing to new heights with new Multi IP feature    Mullvad VPN adds ultra-fast obfuscation to beat WireGuard blocking    165 million Americans suffered a data breach in 2025 – this $2 solution could stop you from being next    Latest in News Chat Control: EU lawmakers finally agree on the voluntary scanning of your private chats    How to watch Sidelined 2: Intercepted on Tubi (it's free)    The world's first 360-degree camera drone just got an on-sale date    What's coming with the Meta Quest 4? We now have more of an idea    5 things you need to know about ChatGPT's big voice mode update    Windows 11's Notepad gets support for tables and bolstered AI powers    LATEST ARTICLES

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