The European Parliament recently voted to allow governments and tech firms to scan private messages, photos, and other information on your phone. Those of us who desire some form of digital privacy will now face digital exposure.

This vote came on a Chat Control law that enables warrantless mass scanning of digital communications. In the past, the EU Parliament has voted against this intrusion. But like a movie zombie it keeps being resurrected and this time it passed. The vote brings back the law until 2028 and sets up a discussion on a future Chat Control law. All of this was accomplished under the guise of looking for child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

At the same time the European Parliament also voted to advance a government-controlled digital currency. This digital euro would be money that would be issued by the European Central Bank (ECB) and would work both online and offline. Online payments would be processed through an accounting system while offline would be done through local storage devices.

In previous commentaries, I have talked about the danger of a Central Bank Digital Currency, known as a CBDC. Every transaction could be tracked by the government. It would know even more about you, your family, your clients, and your charities. If the government controlled your money, the government could turn off your money if those in power disagreed with your financial decisions.

Fortunately, the U.S. Senate recently passed the Housing Act (HR 6644) which also included a provision that prevents the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC until at least the end of 2030. Anyone who might have thought such a provision was unnecessary need merely look at the votes taken at the European Parliament.