If a company explicitly states in a service's terms and conditions that content stored or shared through that service will be scanned, I think that's acceptable because the user then can decide to use such a service on a case-by-case basis.
However, making this a legal requirement or deliberately manipulating a device to scan the entire content stored on that device without the user's consent or knowledge even, is extremely problematic, not just from a privacy point of view.
Such power can and will be abused and misused, sometimes purposefully, sometimes accidentally or erroneously. The devastating outcome to innocent people who have been wrongfully accused remains the same in either case (see https://areoform.wordpress.com/2021/08/06/on-apples-expanded... for a realistic scenario, for example).
The very least I'd expect if such a blanket surveillance system were implemented is that there were hefty, potentially crippling fines and penalties attached to abusing that system in order to avoid frivolous prosecution.
Otherwise, innocent people's lives could be ruined with little to no repercussions for those responsible.
Do strict privacy requirements allow crimes to be committed? Yes, they do. So do other civil liberties. However, we don't just casually do away with those.
If the police suspect a crime to have been committed they have to procure a warrant. That's the way it should work in these cases, too.
However, making this a legal requirement or deliberately manipulating a device to scan the entire content stored on that device without the user's consent or knowledge even, is extremely problematic, not just from a privacy point of view.
Such power can and will be abused and misused, sometimes purposefully, sometimes accidentally or erroneously. The devastating outcome to innocent people who have been wrongfully accused remains the same in either case (see https://areoform.wordpress.com/2021/08/06/on-apples-expanded... for a realistic scenario, for example).
The very least I'd expect if such a blanket surveillance system were implemented is that there were hefty, potentially crippling fines and penalties attached to abusing that system in order to avoid frivolous prosecution.
Otherwise, innocent people's lives could be ruined with little to no repercussions for those responsible.
Do strict privacy requirements allow crimes to be committed? Yes, they do. So do other civil liberties. However, we don't just casually do away with those.
If the police suspect a crime to have been committed they have to procure a warrant. That's the way it should work in these cases, too.