Apple has quietly removed all references to its highly controversial plan to scan iPhone photo libraries for child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The company previously postponed its plans in response to backlash but may abandon them entirely now.
Apple's controversial plan to scan iPhone photo libraries in order to protect children -- a technology that was widely criticized by tech and privacy experts -- has been delayed for at least a few months.
Is Apple actually snooping on your photos? Jefferson Graham wrote an article last week warning this based on the company's child safety announcement. An attention-grabbing headline? Certainly. Accurate? It’s complicated.
Just one day after Apple confirmed that it plans to roll out new software that will detect child abuse imagery on iPhones, WhatsApp's head took to Twitter to call out the move as a "surveillance system" that could be abused.
The photos on your iPhone will no longer be private to just you in the fall. The photos are still yours, but Apple’s artificial intelligence is going to be looking through them constantly.
Following a report earlier today, Apple has published a full post that details how it plans to introduce child safety features across three areas: in new tools available to parents, through scanning iPhone and iCloud photos, and in updates to Siri and Search.
Apple is reportedly planning to scan photos that are stored both on iPhones and in its iCloud service for child abuse imagery, which could help law enforcement but also may result in increased government demands for access to user data.