Apple Announces Delay in Child Protection Measures after Privacy Concerns
Faizel Patel – 07/09/2021
Tech giant Apple is delaying the rollout of its controversial new child pornography protection tools, accused by some of undermining the privacy of its devices and services.
AFP reports that the Silicon Valley giant said last month that iPhones and iPads would soon start detecting images containing child sexual abuse and reporting them as they are uploaded to its online storage in the United States.
However, digital rights organizations quickly noted that the tweaks to Apple’s operating systems create a potential “backdoor” into gadgets that could be exploited by governments or other groups.
In a statement, Apple cited feedback from customers, advocacy groups, researchers and others when announcing the delay.
“We have decided to take additional time over the coming months to collect input and make improvements before releasing these critically important child safety features.”
According to Apple, new technology allows the software powering Apple mobile devices to match abusive photos on a user’s phone against a database of known child sex abuse images provided by safety organizations, then flag the images as they are uploaded to Apple’s online iCloud storage.
