kdonnel
DVC-BCV
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2001
Rumors are that Apple is going to start looking through your photos for child abuse material on your phone. These are not photos you have uploaded anywhere, but photos you have taken or stored on your phone that only ever remain on your phone.
https://9to5mac.com/2021/08/05/report-apple-photos-casm-content-scanning/
The phone will create a hash of each photo on your phone and compare that hash to a list of known photo hashes of child abuse situations.
A hash is just a unique value that is calculated using an algorithm. If you apply that same algorithm to two photos that are the same, you will get the same value.
Turning off iCloud will not stop this process as it is occurring on the phone and not in the cloud.
Questions remain on how positive matches will be handled. Will a person then gain access to see the photo on your phone to ensure it is a true match? Will a search warrant be obtained for the check? When in the process will the phone owner be notified that a verification check is occuring? Exactly when will authorities be notified?
I'm all for stopping child abuse but this seems live a very Big Brother act that could be applied to so many other situations where control is desired.
The entire process is also easily defeated. Just slightly edit the photo and the hash changes. This would only catch the truly stupid child abusers.
Seems really strange coming from a company that claims to be all for privacy.
Thoughts?
https://9to5mac.com/2021/08/05/report-apple-photos-casm-content-scanning/
The phone will create a hash of each photo on your phone and compare that hash to a list of known photo hashes of child abuse situations.
A hash is just a unique value that is calculated using an algorithm. If you apply that same algorithm to two photos that are the same, you will get the same value.
Turning off iCloud will not stop this process as it is occurring on the phone and not in the cloud.
Questions remain on how positive matches will be handled. Will a person then gain access to see the photo on your phone to ensure it is a true match? Will a search warrant be obtained for the check? When in the process will the phone owner be notified that a verification check is occuring? Exactly when will authorities be notified?
I'm all for stopping child abuse but this seems live a very Big Brother act that could be applied to so many other situations where control is desired.
The entire process is also easily defeated. Just slightly edit the photo and the hash changes. This would only catch the truly stupid child abusers.
Seems really strange coming from a company that claims to be all for privacy.
Thoughts?