Apple ‘altering’ child-porn scan

Apple agreed to delay and modify its controversial plan to scan users’ photos for child pornography after privacy advocates cited potential misuse. The ACLU said the plan would “threaten the privacy and security of people around the world and have disastrous consequences for many children.”

Apple bowed to privacy and civil-liberties advocates Friday when it agreed to delay and modify a controversial plan to scan users’ photos for child pornography.

The company’s tool, called “neuralMatch,” would scan images on Apple users’ devices before they’re uploaded to iCloud. A separate tool would sift through users’ encrypted messages for child pornography.

After Apple announced the effort in August, privacy advocates hit back at the company.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital privacy group, racked up more than 25,000 signatures on a petition against the tool, while the American Civil Liberties Union said in a letter that the tool would “censor protected speech, threaten the privacy and security of people around the world, and have disastrous consequences for many children.”

Critics say the tool could easily be misused by repressive governments to track and punish users for all kinds of content besides child pornography, including political content.

And some privacy activists have pointed to Apple’s seemingly accommodating relationship with the government of China, where the vast majority of its devices are manufactured, as evidence that the company would allow the tool to be used for political repression.

In a call with reporters prior to Friday’s announcement, an Apple representative was asked whether the company would exit the Chinese market if authorities demanded the company to use the scanning tool for other purposes. The Apple representative replied that such a decision would be “above their pay grade,” Vice reported.

In Friday’s announcement, Apple did not provide specifics on how it would change its child-protection features, but acknowledged the backlash.

The feature was originally scheduled to be rolled out this year. It’s now unclear when the company plans to release it.