WASHINGTON, United States -- Apple announced on Friday that it is delaying the rollout of its
controversial new anti-child pornography tools, following criticism that the
feature would undermine user privacy.
اضافة اعلان
The Silicon Valley giant said last month that iPhones and
iPads would soon start detecting images containing child sexual abuse and
reporting them as they are uploaded to its online storage in the US.
However, digital rights organizations quickly noted that
the tweaks to Apple's operating systems create a potential "backdoor"
into gadgets that could be exploited by governments or other groups.
The announcement comes as Apple faces intensifying scrutiny
from regulators over what critics say is abuse of its dominance.
The company announced a rare and long-demanded concession
Wednesday to how its online app marketplace works.
Apple cited feedback from customers, advocacy groups,
researchers and others in its choice to "take additional time over the
coming months to collect input and make improvements before releasing these
critically important child safety features."
New technology allows the software powering Apple mobile
devices to match abusive photos on a user's phone against a database of known
images of child abuse and then flag them when they are uploaded to the
company's online iCloud storage.
Apple said previously that at the start of the system's
rollout, a minimum of 30 machine-recognized images would be required for it to
flag an account and trigger a verification process.
Critics of the policy welcomed the delay.
"It's encouraging that the backlash has forced Apple
to delay this reckless and dangerous surveillance plan," said Evan Greer,
director of digital advocacy group Fight for the Future. "They should
shelve it permanently."
Though Apple cited feedback from advocacy groups in its
decision, not all welcomed the pause.
"This is incredibly disappointing," tweeted Andy
Burrows, head of child safety online at the National Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Children.
"Apple had adopted a proportionate approach that
sought to balance user safety and
privacy, and should have stood their
ground," he added.
The new image-monitoring feature would represent a major
shift for Apple, which has until recently resisted efforts to weaken its
encryption that prevents third parties from seeing private messages.
The company said it would have limited access to the
violating images which would be flagged to the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children, a non-profit organization, and has resisted government
effort to weaken
iPhone encryption.
FBI officials have warned that so-called "end to end
encryption," where only the user and recipient can read messages, can
protect criminals, terrorists and pornographers even when authorities have a
legal warrant for an investigation.
The tech giant has unveiled major changes in recent days to
its online app marketplace after years of criticism, as it tries to stave off a
deeper, swelling effort to regulate Big Tech.
A concession announced Wednesday will spare apps that
provide newspapers, books, music or video from having to use the App Store
payment system and thus avoid paying a 30 percent commission.
Experts see the changes from Apple as proof that Big Tech
companies have succumbed to pressure and decided to give an inch to try to
avoid a collision with government rules that they would not control.
Read more Technology news
.jpg)
.jpg)
