Apple reportedly scanned iCloud e-mail for child abuse material since 2019

Apple reportedly has been scanning some users’ emails for Indo Bokep child abuse imagery since 2019, Bokep according to a new report, Porn Sex adding new details to the ongoing debate about the company’s stance on user privacy. Earlier this month, Porn Sex Apple said it would would implement a system to scan some people’s iPhones, iPads and Porn Video Mac computers for Foto Porno child abuse imagery, Bokep worrying security and Foto Porno privacy advocates who say the system could be twisted into a tool for government surveillance.

The company told the publication 9to5Mac it had been scanning iCloud Mail emails for Video Bokep child abuse imagery for the past two years, Porn Sex a detail it didn’t appear to explicitly disclose to customers. Apple had said on earlier versions of its website that it “uses image matching technology to help find and report child exploitation” by looking at “electronic signatures” without providing more detail. Apple also told the publication it performed “limited” scanning of other data, Indo Bokep without going into further detail other than to say it didn’t include iPhone or Video Bokep iPad backups.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for Porn Sex further comment.

The latest revelation adds a wrinkle to the heated debate about Apple’s approach to user privacy. For Video Bokep years, Foto Telanjang Apple’s marketed its devices as more secure and Bokep trustworthy than those of its competitors. It’s gone so far as to publicly criticize Google and Facebook over their ad-supported business models, Video Porno telling customers that because Apple makes money by selling phones it doesn’t need to rely on ad tracking and Porn Sex other tools to make money. Apple also mocked the tech industry with a billboard at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Indo Bokep with a picture of an iPhone and Foto Telanjang the statement “What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone.” 

When Apple announced its new scanning technology, Porn Video it emphasized plans to run scans on devices using its iCloud photo library syncing service. The company said it preferred to run scans on the device rather than on its servers, Porn Video saying it would allow privacy advocates to audit its systems and Porn Video ensure they weren’t being somehow misused.

“If you look at any other cloud service, they currently are scanning photos by looking at every single photo in the cloud and analyzing it; we wanted to be able to spot such photos in the cloud without looking at people’s photos,” Craig Federighi, Porn Sex Apple’s head of software engineering, Video Bokep said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal earlier this month.

Though privacy advocates question Apple’s moves, Bokep the effort comes amid a surge in child abuse imagery across the web. The number of reported child sexual abuse materials jumped 50% in 2020, Porn Sex according to a report from The New York Times, Indo Bokep a majority of which were reported by Facebook. Apple’s anti-fraud chief suggested the problem was even larger, Video Bokep saying in a private message that his company’s commitment to privacy had led it to become “the greatest platform for distributing child Porn Video.” The message was made public as part of Apple’s ongoing legal battle with Fortnite maker Epic Games.