 that a security feature that uses AI to scan communications received to and from children, in order to detect exploitation, will soon be available on British iPhones.

This is a similar technology that was recently 

 in the E.U, and it comes with a lot of controversy. 

The "Communication Safety in Messages" function allows parents to enable alerts for their kids' iPhones. When enabled, the Messages app will check all pictures the child sends or receives for nudity.

The photo will be blurred, and the child will be alerted that it might contain sensitive content and directed toward child safety resources if nudity is discovered. 

Similar safeguards apply if a child's photos contain nudity; in this case, the child is urged not to submit the pictures and is given the option to "Message a Grown-Up."

Apple has removed a number of contentious settings from the update before it was made public. 

 stated that parents would be automatically notified if their 

 children, under 13, transmitted or received such photographs; however, those notifications are not there in the final version.

The communication safety in Messages and the search warnings were first previewed in the summer of 2021.

Apple's AI has had a complicated timeline:

 when Apple initially revealed this new software. The presentation had a lot of intention but few specifics.

An outcry for more information, scathing headlines, and angry tweets forced the tech titan to defend itself only weeks before the release of the latest iPhone. For a firm recognized for its rigorous branding efforts, it was a rare PR blunder.

In addition to the feature that would alert minors and their parents if incoming or sent image attachments are sexually explicit, 

even more criticism came from the tool that would start checking iOS devices and iCloud photos for child abuse imagery.

The main issues raised were privacy and the potential for the technology to be used for purposes other than those for which it was intended. 

Apple was undoubtedly hurt by these complaints because it has recently centered much of its marketing efforts on user protection.

Apple's objectives are admirable: preventing strangers from using communication tools to recruit and exploit children, and preventing the distribution of materials that promote child sexual abuse. 

And it is obvious that there are no simple solutions to the problem of endangering children. Unfortunately, scanning and marking messages' visuals will increase the risk of serious harm to children and partners of abusive households. 

The hazy messaging was also a result of a lack of information regarding how the entire operation would function. For instance, when asked about the human review team during a press call, Apple responded that it was unsure of what it would entail because it would need to determine the necessary resources after a testing phase.

 of describing how the new tool will convert photographs on iPhones and iPads into unintelligible hashes (complex numbers) saved on consumer devices during the press calls. 

Once the images are uploaded to Apple's iCloud storage service, those numbers will be compared to a database of hashes given by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). 

iPhones and iPads will encode photographs with a double-encrypted "safety voucher" that will be transferred to iCloud servers. 

Apple's review team will be notified once a predetermined number of safety vouchers from NCMEC's photos are detected as matching, allowing it to decrypt the voucher, disable the user's account, and notify NCMEC, which can alert law enforcement to the existence of potentially offensive images. 

It could give authoritarian countries and other entities more tools to increase monitoring.

The most controversial features of iCloud Photos were the detecting tools. 

One illustration is an open letter written by Edward Snowden and other well-known individuals that expresses worry over the possibility that some parties may utilize the technology for surveillance. 

“Take the example of India, where recently passed rules include dangerous requirements for platforms to identify the origins of messages and pre-screen content. New laws in Ethiopia requiring content takedowns of “misinformation” in 24 hours may apply to messaging services. And many other countries—often those with authoritarian governments—have passed similar laws."

“Apple sells iPhones without FaceTime in Saudi Arabia, because local regulation prohibits encrypted phone calls. That's just one example of many where Apple's bent to local pressure. What happens when local regulations in Saudi Arabia mandate that messages be scanned not for child sexual abuse, but for homosexuality or for offenses against the monarchy?”

The Electronic Frontier Foundation acknowledged that it had actually already witnessed this in action, noting that "one of the technologies originally built to scan and hash child sexual abuse imagery has been repurposed to create a database of "terrorist" content that companies can contribute to and access for the purpose of banning such content."

Will Apple's strategy succeed? Or will different actors exploit this technology for bad intentions in the end?

It's obvious that it's a potent instrument, and there won't be a way to stop it, in my opinion.

An identical program has already been introduced in Europe:

, all of your WhatsApp photos, iMessage texts, and Snapchat films may be checked to look for images and videos of child sexual assault.

Civil rights organizations and security professionals are also displeased with the European 

 to examine people's messages because they believe it will weaken end-to-end encryption.

These AI abuse detection strategies are a part of a worrying trend that is spreading.

In our offices, schools, and homes—places where monitoring is most prevalent and where power disparities are the norm—tech corporations are showing uo more and more frequently. These technologies may be able to assist, but more often than not, they give people in positions of authority new opportunities for eavesdropping, monitoring, and stalking.

The impact on privacy going forward is severe. 

It gets tougher to defend privacy elsewhere the more our technology monitors young people. 

Furthermore, it is all-too simple for young people to accept surveillance as the norm if we teach them that privacy isn't something they deserve, despite the fact that it is frequently prejudiced, hazardous, and damaging to our rights. Safety for kids is crucial. However, it's equally crucial to avoid using child protection as justification for severely limiting each user's privacy.

Apple is endangering the safety of its young users as well as its reputation as a privacy-protective company in the tech industry by breaking the privacy promise that your messages are secure, and by introducing a backdoor that governments will obviously ask to expand.

Instead of funding police, social workers, and organizations that can address the root causes of child abuse and terrorism, governments run the risk of relying on "magical software solutions."

This naive mentality will sadly backfire on the end-users for the long term. 

The Current A.I to "Protect" Children Sets Back our Data Protection & Privacy

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