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Apple’s moves have raised questions about the company’s commitment to privacy.
Angela Lang/CNET
reportedly has been scanning some users’ emails for child abuse imagery since 2019, according to a new report, adding new details to the ongoing debate about the company’s stance on user . Earlier this month, Apple said it would to scan some people’s , and zjledq.com Mac computers for child abuse imagery, worrying security and c671raeoea.preview.infomaniak.website privacy advocates who say the system could be .
The company told the publication 9to5Mac it had been scanning iCloud Mail emails for child abuse imagery for the past two years, a detail it didn’t appear to explicitly disclose to customers. Apple had said on 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, without going into further detail other than to say it didn’t include iPhone or iPad backups.
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Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for further comment.
The latest revelation adds a wrinkle to the heated debate about Apple’s approach to user privacy. For years, Apple’s marketed its devices as more secure and trustworthy than those of its competitors. It’s gone so far as to publicly criticize and over their ad-supported business models, telling customers that because Apple makes money by selling it and other tools to make money. Apple also mocked the tech industry with a billboard at the 2019 in Las Vegas, with a picture of an iPhone and the statement “.”
When Apple announced its new scanning technology, it emphasized plans to run scans on devices . The company said it preferred to run scans on the device rather than on its servers, saying it would allow privacy advocates to audit its systems and ensure they .
“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,” , Apple’s head of software engineering, website said in an earlier this month.
Though privacy advocates question Apple’s moves, 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, according to a , a majority of which were reported by Facebook. Apple’s anti-fraud chief suggested the problem was even larger, saying in a private message that had led it to become “the greatest platform for distributing child porn.” The message was made with Fortnite maker Epic Games.
