Apple delays child protection measures after privacy criticism

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Apple said on Friday it would take longer to gather feedback and improve the child safety features offered after criticism of the system over privacy and other grounds both inside and outside of. the company.

Apple’s promise last month to check US customers’ phones and computers for child sexual abuse images sparked a global backlash from a wide range of rights groups. , with employees also criticizing the plan internally.

Critics argued that the feature could be exploited by repressive governments looking to find other elements of censorship or arrest and that it would also be impossible for outside researchers to determine if Apple was only verifying a small set. content on the device.

Apple countered that it would allow security researchers to verify its claims, but the company said on Friday it would take longer to make changes to the system.

“Based on feedback from customers, advocacy groups, researchers and others, we have decided to take extra time over the next few months to gather feedback and make improvements before releasing these features of safety of critically important children, “the company said in a statement Friday.

Matthew Green, a cybersecurity researcher at Johns Hopkins University who criticized Apple’s move, said Apple’s move was “promising.”

Green said on Twitter that Apple should “be clear about why you are scanning and what you are scanning. Move from scanning nothing (except email attachments) to scanning the private photo library everyone’s was a huge delta. You have to justify climbs like this. “

Apple had been playing the defense on the plan for weeks, and had already offered a series of explanations and documents to show that the risks of false detections were low.

He had planned to roll out the feature for iPhones, iPads, and Macs with software updates later this year in the United States.

Thomson Reuters 2021

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