I have just heard the Finnish Presidency of the EU has decided NOT to press for a resolution of the ePrivacy Regulation before end of the year. I think we can say “hurrah!” This means the status quo remains i.e. no objection to continued use of PhotoDNA for known images or other tools with similar technology-based child protection aims in the messaging space. When the processes start again in the New Year, with a new Commission, we will need to dig in and make sure it does not go off the rails again.
In the medium to longer term we also need to address the issue of the evident lack, among privacy lawyers and privacy professionals, of an understanding of how different parts of the technology space can impact on young people’s health and safety.
Desiderata 