Apple plans to scan US iPhones for child sexual abuse pictures
Before an image is stored onto iCloud Photos, the technology will search for matches of already known CSAM.Apple said that if a match is found, a human reviewer will assess and report the user to law enforcement. However, privacy concerns are that the technology could expand to scan phones for prohibited content or political speech.
Experts worry that authoritarian governments could use technology to spy on their citizens. Apple said that new versions of iOS and iPadOS - due to be released later this year - will have "new applications of cryptography to help limit the spread of CSAM online while designing for user privacy".
The system works by comparing pictures to a database of known child sexual abuse images compiled by the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and other child safety organisations. Those images are translated into "hashes", numerical codes that can be "matched" to an image on an Apple device.
Apple says the technology will also catch edited but similar versions of original images."Before an image is stored in iCloud Photos, an on-device matching process is performed for that image against the known CSAM hashes," Apple said.
The company claimed the system had an "extremely high level of accuracy and ensured less than a one in one trillion chance per year of incorrectly flagging a given account".Apple says that it will manually review each report to confirm there is a match. It can then take steps to disable a user's account and report to law enforcement.
The company says that the new technology offers "significant" privacy benefits over existing techniques - as Apple only learns about users' photos if they have a collection of known CSAM in their iCloud Photos account. However, some privacy experts have voiced concerns.
"Regardless of what Apple's long term plans are, they've sent an obvious signal. In their (very influential) opinion, it is safe to build systems that scan users' phones for prohibited content," Matthew Green, a security researcher at Johns Hopkins University, said."Whether they turn out to be right or wrong on that point hardly matters. This will break the dam governments will demand it from everyone."
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