- Experts warn that integrating artificial intelligence (AI) at the operating system level could bypass encryption on messaging apps, putting sensitive user data at risk.
- Session executives highlighted how user data can be collected, stored and misused for advertising, behavioral manipulation or phishing attacks.
- Laws like the EU’s Chat Control (Digital Services Act) mandate message scanning and content moderation, raising concerns among privacy advocates.
- Session promotes decentralized, open-source messaging with end-to-end encryption, no central servers and no identifying metadata to protect user privacy.
- Experts emphasize educating users about secure communication tools and resisting deep AI integration to safeguard digital rights and personal information.
Advances in artificial intelligence and increasing regulatory pressures are creating new challenges for private messaging apps, with experts warning that user privacy could be at risk.
Executives from the decentralized messaging platform Session warned that AI, if integrated at the operating system level, could potentially bypass encryption, exposing sensitive information to opaque systems.
In an interview with Coin Telegraph, Alex Linton, president of the Session Technology Foundation, revealed that the ability of AI to analyze and store data directly on devices poses “huge privacy issues, huge security issues.” He then warned that private communication could become “impossible to do on an average mobile phone or computer.”
“If it’s integrated at the operating system level or higher, it might also be able to completely bypass the encryption on your messaging app, that information could be fed off to a black box AI, and then from there, God knows what happens to it,” Linton said.
Chris McCabe, co-founder of Session, highlighted that many users are unaware of how their data is collected and exploited. He pointed to recent breaches, including a third-party data analytics provider for OpenAI, which exposed user information and increased risks of phishing and social engineering attacks. McCabe said collected data can be used to manipulate people’s behavior, influence decisions or drive advertising without consent.
Linton also criticized lawmakers who rely on tech giants responsible for pushing such technologies to shape privacy regulations, saying this exacerbates the risks to user privacy.
Session counters AI privacy threats on private messaging
The interview of Linton and McCabe follows the controversy of the European Union’s Chat Control legislation, which would mandate message scanning. According to BrightU.AI‘s Enoch, this Chat Control Regulation, also known as the Digital Services Act (DSA), seeks to “combat” illegal content online.
It introduces an obligation for large online platforms to swiftly remove illegal content and empower users to flag problematic content. The DSA also requires these platforms to provide transparency reports detailing their content moderation practices, the decentralized engine adds.
However, the regulation has already sparked strong criticism from privacy advocates. To counter these threats, Session focuses on decentralized, privacy-first messaging.
The app is open source, uses end-to-end encryption, removes identifying metadata and operates without central servers. By eliminating the “middleman,” Session seeks to protect users from surveillance, censorship and corporate control.
“There is a lot of pressure if you’re in the business of building encrypted messengers or making encrypted tools in general. Proposed or enacted regulations are being adopted in many jurisdictions,” Linton said. “There’s a lot of negative media attention that can come with it. The literal people working on this technology feel that pressure, so it’s important for the general public to understand these tools are trying to help. They’re trying to safeguard your information. They’re trying to make the online space a better place.”
As AI integration accelerates and governments explore new surveillance regulations, Linton and McCabe claimed that public education on privacy tools and secure communication practices is increasingly critical to safeguard digital rights.
“It’s important that we push back against this type of deep integration of AI into all of our devices, because at that point, you just don’t know what is happening on your device anymore,” Linton said.
Watch Jefferey Jaxen discussing how free speech is under siege thanks to the DSA below.
This video is from The HighWire with Del Bigtree channel on Brighteon.com.
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