Thousands sign letter asking Apple to scrap plans to scan users' photos for child abuse images
An open letter signed by privacy advocates, security experts, technology companies and legal specialists has been sent to Apple, decrying the company's plans to scan the photos of Mac, iPad and iPhone users for evidence of child abuse.
While on the face of it, Apple's "Expanded Protections for Children" plans are a good thing, it has also come in for heavy criticism. With the release of macOS Monterey, iOS 15 and iPad OS 15, the company is implementing CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) detection which will check image hashes to see if they feature in databases of known abuse images. It has been likened to creating a backdoor to users' files and has horrified privacy experts.