The tech giant is defending its new features, aimed at preventing the spread of child sexual abuse material, despite mounting pressure from privacy advocates.
Apple plans to scan iCloud photos for child sexual abuse images, and says its “method of detecting known CSAM (child sexual abuse material) is designed with user privacy in mind”.
The company has also announced a parental control option, which warns children and their parents when they are about to view or send sexually explicit photos in the Messages app.
But privacy groups claim the new features will “create new risks for children”.
Concerns have also been raised that the scanning software “could be used to censor speech and threaten the privacy and security of people around the world”.
A coalition of more than 90 rights groups has now written to Apple CEO Tim Cook, outlining their concerns, and urging the tech titan to abandon its plans to introduce the new features.
The signatories include civil rights, human rights and digital rights groups.
“Though these capabilities are intended to protect children and to reduce the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), we are concerned that they will be used to censor protected speech, threaten the privacy and security of people around the world, and have disastrous consequences for many children.”
Letter sent to apple ceo tim cook
The coalition of rights groups has raised concerns that the scan and alert feature in Messages “could result in alerts that threaten the safety and wellbeing of some young people.
The groups say LGBTQ+ youths with unsympathetic parents are particularly at risk.
They also claim that once the “CSAM hash scanning for photos is built into Apple products, the company will face enormous pressure, and possibly legal requirements, from governments around the world to scan for all sorts of images that the governments find objectionable”.
Apple defends its child safety features
Apple has sought to allay concerns, pushing back against claims that the technology will be used for other purposes.
The trillion-dollar company insists it won’t give in to pressure from any government to use the technology for other surveillance purposes.
Apple says it “will refuse any such demands”
“Let us be clear, this technology is limited to detecting CSAM child sexual abuse material stored in iCloud and we will not accede to any government’s request to expand it.”
“We have faced demands to build and deploy government-mandated changes that degrade the privacy of users before, and have steadfastly refused those demands. We will continue to refuse them in the future,” Apple said in a recent FAQ.
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Ticker’s Ahron Young & Mike Loder discuss. #featured #trending
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As businesses increasingly migrate to cloud technologies, skepticism is brewing over whether it’s the optimal solution for every organisational need.
Additionally, the notion of “free” cloud services is being challenged, highlighting the importance of understanding the true costs and benefits associated with cloud adoption.
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Several investors are hoping to benefit from a new federal law that requires TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell the popular platform or face a ban.
This comes after ByteDance and TikTok filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government to block the law from going into effect.
Meanwhile, eight TikTok creators filed their own challenge, arguing the law violates their First Amendment rights to free speech.
But as the saga continues many media outlets are defending the platform.
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