Apple is Now Scanning Photos Uploaded to iCloud for Child Abuse
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Posted January 8, 2020 at 9:25pm by iClarified
Apple has begun scanning each photo uploaded to iCloud to check for child abuse, reports The Telegraph.
Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Jane Horvath, Apple's Chief Privacy Officer, revealed that the company is now automatically screening images backed up to iCloud to look for illegal photos.
A statement on the company's legal website offers some more details...
Apple is dedicated to protecting children throughout our ecosystem wherever our products are used, and we continue to support innovation in this space. We have developed robust protections at all levels of our software platform and throughout our supply chain. As part of this commitment, Apple uses image matching technology to help find and report child exploitation. Much like spam filters in email, our systems use electronic signatures to find suspected child exploitation. We validate each match with individual review. Accounts with child exploitation content violate our terms and conditions of service, and any accounts we find with this material will be disabled.
As a reminder, if you are using Apple's iCloud services your data is not secure. Apple has the encryption keys to your photos, contacts, calendars, bookmarks, mail, notes, voice memos, health, call history, and files. Even your messages are not secure if you have iCloud backup enabled.
https://apple.news/A0Ue1iIylT-Gxpyw6bI77PA
For all supporters of Apple trying to be the “good cop”... read the article “Apple is offering the FBI 'no substantive assistance' in unlocking two iPhones related to a shooting case, says Attorney General Barr” from Business Insider or the link above
If this stops or fights child pornography then no problem scan away apple.
But let’s be honest there basically saying that they have the keys to all of your personal data and they’ve had them for a long time but now they’re actually looking through it, that means they’re scanning for any and every illegal thing or not illegal things they’re just scanning at all!!!
And I’m fine with that too hope they don’t find my pot lol
But since they’re scanning everything there’s no telling what they can fine other than naked ex Disney celebrities lol
But now that they’re looking at all of your stuff maybe we’re going to have a new Facebook problems later on down the line!
What happened with “what’s on your iPhone stays on your iPhone”?! Or now is “what’s on your iCloud is in our hands to judge!”
There is a platform for that, it’s called Facebook you know?!
What I don’t understand, is that if someone is engaging in something so disgusting and universally illegal as child pornography, are they dumb enough to turn iCloud backups on and toggle the Photos option to on? I’d be curious to know if this has ever caught one of these sickos. If my phone were full of incriminating files of any sort, I wouldn’t back up to the cloud but Apple seems to think they are? Knowing that this tactic has succeeded would make me much More comfortable for even an algorithm scanning my files.
This is a quote from iClarified: “ As a reminder, if you are using Apple's iCloud services your data is not secure. Apple has the encryption keys to your photos, contacts, calendars, bookmarks, mail, notes, voice memos, health, call history, and files. Even your messages are not secure if you have iCloud backup enabled.“
@toby, I think the answer to your question is that most images are now stored and shared online, which is still probably "safer" for the sickos than doing so in physical form. In order for someone not to use digital files, they'd have to take their own photos and to do so they'd have to commit the actual molestation themselves, and then keep the physical evidence. There are documentaries which show the depravity of people that create and distribute this filth in dark-web marketplaces. This Apple filter is a good thing, let's just make sure it doesn't get used or exploited for other illicit reasons. Balance, as always.
@voiceofreason (I love your handle BTW)
I agree these images and videos are distributed online, and have been for decades now. But perhaps I’m giving these perverts too much credit when it comes to storing them.
I’m Canadian, and in my hometown we have the offices of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection. It is a national charity to help exploited children and survivors. It’s a fantastic charity and they do very important work funded from corporations and the Canadian Government.
In my support of this charity I’ve had the opportunity to speak to people who had or still did work in this field. What I heard was nothing less than shocking—I’m speaking about what these pedophiles do to share content across the Internet without getting caught.
I work in tech (and while I’m not a network engineer) I was able to follow (for the most part) the insanely technically complicated setups these groups use to avoid being caught. Layers of encryption, blockchain tools, using multiple VPNs across multiple jurisdictions to slow down law enforcement and ToR just to name a few.
So, because I’ve heard all of this from so many people who’s jobs are to assist catching these guys saying that they would turn iCloud backups on just throws me for a loop. Their servers will be on another continent, behind layers and layers of encryption with keys shared via pieces of paper that they hand deliver by flying across the globe, yet Apple wants to scan the photos of its user base for these photos?
Maybe (and I do want to give Apple the benefit of the doubt here), the not-so-organized sickos and the lone perverts that aren’t part of a multinational child porn ring is who they’re after. I don’t know enough about the topic to understand if this is such a large problem, that Apple—the people who position the features of their Photos privacy on their website—need to scan billions of images to catch these criminals. It just seems odd is all.
I don’t have any images I wouldn’t mind ending up on a Times Square billboard. I’m not that interesting, nor am I a pedophile. I am, however, a huge privacy advocate and as such, algorithms looking over my photos is a slippery slope that needs to be monitored. I’ll wrap this up because this is turning into an article, but if I search on my iPhone for “dogs” in my photos app, the AI finds dogs. But it achieves this with on-device AI. Moving it off device goes against everything Tim Cook keeps saying about Apple. I am not saying these perverts deserve a modicum of privacy or anything remotely close to that. I just want to know that this scanning of photos can’t be abused.
Toby
People have such strong opinions about things they've given such little thought to... the point here is not whether you think you live in the matrix, the points is whether it is ok for apple to do this IF they disclose it to their customers. You can agree or disagree, but THAT is the point.
Personally I am ok with it, as long as they disclose it like they have. Can't think of anything more despicable than child pornograpy, and I have no problem with this practice. Political thought or anything else is an entirely different issue.
Sorry you are wrong!
Check how many cases FBI has for child ... or real crimes where they can’t have access to iCloud of the “bad guy” to help the innocents and Apple is not cooperating. And sometimes they were ordered by judge to do that and they refused.
Or why they allowed so many isis fighters to store/post “bad footages” online for their propaganda? When they could disable those accounts immediately.
You are born in captivity (digital) my friend and you can’t see any different. Open your eyes!
Can you imagine postal services looking into every mails for certain text or phrases ?!
Lol... I'm born in captivity... thank you for saving me, Spartacus! lol
I can imagine postal services scanning for illegal or harmful substances, as they do. However, you're making a false comparison... postal services is a government service bound by the law of the land, however that may change or be interpreted. Apple is a private company and we are free to use or not use their services if we don't like their terms and conditions of use. You should think about issues on their own merits instead of applying your biases on everything you see. :-/
The fact that you call your self “voice of reason” and fail to understand a valid reason regarding privacy it just shows that you are an obedient client. Privacy is everything FYI. This is not Google. The fact you don’t see the difference btw this companies it shows that the line was crossed and slowly I would say majority of people would give up their privacy for nothing.
@1reader, maybe your point is valid, but then you're not expressing it well. I broke down mine in simple, easy to digest components: (1) should/can Apple do this, and (2) if they do, should they tell us. We can disagree on (1), but since they're doing (2) our freedom is not impinged on in any way... there are other options available to us. If you have something to say other than making assumptions about me, please make your point coherently. Peace. :)
I didn’t said I saved your life, but I give you something to consider (or to reason with this thought).
They shouldn’t mess with our data.
If you read carefully you would read that they mention illegal picture and later the article mentions about text, contacts... our data.
I’m against those ppl too, but they consider what’s illegal or not.
Consider this: Apple health data or HomeKit is in the cloud too, if they slowly are chipping from privacy, what if in the future the fact that you run your electricity during certain hours (which is “against planet“ let’s say a person like AOC wins the WH) and they report on you for disobedience with that government. In other words, don’t open the pandora box. Leave it closed.
Have you see the news regarding ring employees who for few years were spying on people ring doorbells.
Bottom line leave technology alone to do it’s role. We don’t need another government over our tools.
You are wrong, when you are starting to look into customers private business who stops you to look into presidential candidates or presidents and gain more power.
Your answer is complying with their practice because it shows that you don’t think outside the box. You are in the box and you are happy about it, until one day. And then what?
It’s not that easy as you write.
Software can flag your pictures for some reasons (it depends on the algorithm). Then it is sent for manual review (especially if you complain). Manual review = someone goes into your stuff to make a conclusion.
Think for 5 minutes!
#1. Right now you might have pictures with flowers and trees and later on might not be the same.
#2. Once they start deny services for one reason most likely other reasons will be added to deny services.
After this practice will be seen as normality, what’s next, both cameras and mics will tell on us in case we are going to do something “illegal” or against that current system (democratic or republican) ?!
Where is our privacy that Apple was so proud about it?
More Big Brother. Orwell never meant to predict the future when he wrote ‘1984’. But her sure nailed it and what we have now is even worse than what he could have imagined.
@1Reader: you are saying they're transparent about the practice, then ominously asking what else they're scanning for. I think it is good that they're scanning, as long as they disclose it. Asking what else they're scanning for is an unhelpful expression of paranoia.
I am confident that you did not take a "class on privacy", whatever that is. And you are not making your point in a coherent, rational way. The only questions are (1) should Apple be doing this, and (2) if they do it, should they inform the public. I personally view filtering for child porn as a good thing, but of course we can disagree on that or argue about the slippery slope argument. But since they're doing it, at least they're transparent about it, and since this is the only subject on the table, everything else is just an expression of your sad world view. :( End of argument from me.
Everyone has a worldview (FYI) including you or Apple.
You still didn’t answer to my question but just prove that you are a loyal user.
Good for the company but not for everyone else.
What is your question, "why are they looking into none of their business"? The answer is simple. You may disagree, but some people believe that corporations have a moral (or even legal) obligation to ensure that their products are not used to cause harm, and some corporations believe that as part of society they are bound by a social contract. We can argue about hypocrisy, ulterior motives, etc., but there's your answer and it's a valid one on its own merit. If you want to presume nefarious reasons for their actions you're free to do so, but I am ok with their action and their stated motive... other topics are for a separate discussion, which takes place all over the internet all day long. We CAN look at this as a stand-alone issue.
I’m sorry but the answer was in the question.
“None of their business”. That’s all I have to say. When you sign up with iCloud they didn’t mention that later on your data it’s in our hands and we can even give you more headache. Imagine you shoot a picture of a crowd and something happened there and you don’t want to share that imagine with none as you fear for your life...
1reader, you really like to live in a world of what ifs... that’s called paranoia. Transparency is key and if want transparency from companies why can’t we be expected to offer it in return. They have a right to know if you are using their hardware or software for malicious reasons and help safeguard the families and children that also use their devices. Great job Apple, start scanning 1readers photos first.
For you is only arguing for the sake of argument.
The world is build with “if” (FYI).
Talk to your parents how they grew you up.
Talk to any engineer or programmer.
There is no software build without “if”.
Stop being an apologetic for Apple (they have an army of well paid ppl in PR dptm)
This forum is for users. I’m a user.
When they do something good you will never see me complaining be sure of that.
I own a lot of their products and I will prefer if my iCloud (for which I monthly pay) not to be in someone’s hands but to keep it private.
You cannot build all your environment like HomeKit and Health app and later find out that some guys that work for Apple in some other country have fun with your data (as it happened with Siri recordings).
There is a saying along this lines: “either you getting it or you don’t “ I can write here essays, if you don’t get it ...I’m sorry. Maybe with time you will...
You’re annoying to my point. You only are you yours. That’s why I think you’re an invisible you are one-sided I cannot see it from someone else’s side. I see your perspective but I do not worry about my privacy in this particular area. I personally have nothing to hide. If you think Samsung does any of us or Google, think again. We need to safeguard technology and I think it’s appropriate that companies are taking measures to do self. Transparency for me is more important in my opinion.
If you are so transparent put your files on Dropbox and gives us the link so we can see how transparency works?!
The transparency It’s only in one direction my friend they can take a look at your stuff, you (us, the normal people) better be an exemplary user as they will have “dirt” on you/us in the future.
That’s all I have to say.
If you don’t get it, it’s fine!
All of my stuff is on a public dropbox. I use it to share with my team. I already practice transparency. You Seem to only care about pushing your agenda. You need some serious help and if you can’t see that, that’s fine
I knew he can’t be that transparent. That utopia is only on paper real, in reality people have passwords and people lock their belongings or doors. Not because they have stuff to hide but because they want to protect their life/loved ones etc.
PaulieP is a product of mass media and eats what’s new like butter. As I said before a good user for big corporations. No concerns what so ever in his head. (At least his life seams easy until one day...)
Now On business insider:
“Apple is offering the FBI 'no substantive assistance' in unlocking two iPhones related to a shooting case, says Attorney General Barr”
See PaulieP where is the transparency?! Out the window or only in your little head?
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