Online Safety Act
Privacy is a right, not a slogan
Regulators can now compel platforms to scan your private messages. Here is what that means, what the law actually does, where it currently stands, and exactly how Speak Ez responds.
The regulation
Ofcom, the OSA & the scanning mandate
The Online Safety Act gives Ofcom the power to require platforms to scan user content for illegal material. On its face this sounds reasonable. In practice, any system that can be compelled to inspect private communications is structurally a surveillance system. The right to privacy stops meaning unreadable-to-anyone and starts meaning we-promise-to-look-only-when-asked.
Our position
Compliant but not complicit
Scanning is not carried out by default. It would only be implemented if a lawful demand were made by the relevant authorities. If such a demand is ever made, all Speak Ez users will be notified through the platform — because the law permits non-notification, but we do not.
Our response
Pre-emptive, client-side protection
To remain compliant whilst protecting your human right to privacy, we are integrating pre-emptive processes that prevent you from initiating a flaggable or reportable message in the first place. These processes run exclusively client-side — on your device, before anything is transmitted. Nothing leaves your device that formal flagging would otherwise catch. That is the architecture, not a policy promise.
The hard truth
We all pay for the rotten apples
The intent of the law is sound on paper: identify child abuse, terrorism, and organised crime. No reasonable person objects to removing those actors from society. The problem is the mechanism. Blanket scanning means every private conversation is structurally accessible — not just the guilty ones. We all suffer a complete erosion of privacy because of a small number of freaks and fanatics. We do not and will not support an open messaging system that is free for anyone to surveil.
The timeline
Where the OSA stands now
Currently there is no active implementation of flagging or reporting requirements for platforms like Speak Ez. The OSA remains in consultation — a process that, with the speed those wheels turn, is likely to continue for years. There is no immediate threat to your communications today. We are building ahead of it regardless.
Want full elimination of the risk?
If you wish to remove these concerns entirely, we have solutions that operate outside the OSA scope. These are available on enquiry and are suitable for organisations and individuals with the highest operational privacy requirements.
Enquire now