The new technology will allow the iPhone operating system to compare offensive photographs with a database of sexual assault images. afp_tickers
This content was published on August 6, 2021 – 12:52 AM
(AFP)
Computer giant Apple unveiled this Thursday (5) new tools designed to detect and eventually report sexual images of children stored on its server, iCloud, to authorities.
“We want to help protect children from predators who use communications to recruit and exploit them, and limit the spread of child pornography,” the group said on its page.
The company will use encrypted tools that parse and link images it deems suspicious with a specific number for each.
He also plans to compare the photos stored in iCloud with those held in the archives of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), a private American corporation working to reduce the sexual exploitation of children. Apple makes sure it doesn’t have direct access to the images.
If the photo looks like a photo from a file, Apple will review it manually, disable the user account if necessary, and send a report to NCMEC.
The group is also planning new tools to prevent children and parents from having a Family Sharing account when explicit photos are sent to them in the messaging app.
The photos will be blurry and the minor will receive warning messages that he is not required to open them.
Parents can choose to receive a message when their child opens the photos. Similar protections will apply to children who post sexually explicit photographs.
The group will also expand on the preventive information that Siri’s voice assistant spreads when children or parents ask for advice in certain situations.
Siri and Search can also intervene when users search for images of child pornography, alerting them to content issues.
These tools will be gradually available with upcoming operating system updates on iPhone, iPad, iWatch and iMac.
