Security News > 2021 > August > Apple's bright idea for CSAM scanning could start 'persecution on a global basis' – 90+ civil rights groups

More than ninety human rights groups from around the world have signed a letter condemning Apple's plans to scan devices for child sexual abuse material - and warned Cupertino could usher in "Censorship, surveillance and persecution on a global basis."

The US-based Center for Democracy and Technology organised the open letter [PDF], which called on Apple to abandon its approach to mass-scanning.

"Once this capability is built into Apple products, the company and its competitors will face enormous pressure - and potentially legal requirements - from governments around the world to scan photos not just for CSAM, but also for other images a government finds objectionable," the letter stated.

"Those images may be of human rights abuses, political protests, images companies have tagged as 'terrorist' or violent extremist content, or even unflattering images of the very politicians who will pressure the company to scan for them. That pressure could extend to all images stored on the device, not just those uploaded to iCloud. Thus, Apple will have laid the foundation for censorship, surveillance and persecution on a global basis."

Once a hash is matched, Apple says human moderators will review images before passing them to police.

Apple says it "Will refuse any such demands." Adding fuel to the flames, NCMEC sent a memo to Apple, which was distributed among staff and subsequently leaked, telling the iGiant's engineers not to worry about the scanning technology's critics, described them as "The screeching voices of the minority."

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/08/19/apple_csam_condemned/