Cupertino giants have been doing so for the past two years, according to a recent report, as Apple prepares to scan users’ iPhone and iCloud backups for photos and videos related to Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM). I’ve been scanning users’ iCloud emails for useful materials.
The company confirmed this in the following statement. 9to5MacWe started investigating this topic after a modest iMessage statement by Eric Friedman, Epic’s Head of Fraud Prevention.Apple’s iOS reportedly “The best platform for distributing child pornography.” Following this 9to5Mac I contacted the Cupertino giant for further comment.
In a statement to the publisher above, Apple confirmed that it was scanning users’ iCloud emails for images and attachments related to child sexual abuse content. According to the statement, the company scans both inbound and outbound emails sent by users via iCloud. Also, iCloud email isn’t encrypted, so it’s not too difficult to scan in transit.
Well, remember, in early 2020, I saw a report describing how Apple’s CSAM scanning process works via email. Therefore, according to a previous report, Apple Scan image metadata Already tagged as CSAM materiall.. When the system detects such an image in a user’s email, it immediately flags the email until a human operator checks the email. If relevant CSAM content is found in a flagged email, the guilty person’s name, phone number, and address will be delivered to the Department of Homeland Security.
At the time, a cybersecurity expert at Sally University said: “I think the balance Apple has drawn is good. Not only does it allow you to search for known extreme images, but it also provides protection to prevent abuse of the email search feature.”
Therefore, the iCloud email scanning process does not violate company policy and Apple maintains a balance between discovering CSAM content and user privacy. However, it’s still unclear if the company will use the same process to scan images on users’ iPhones and iCloud Photos. As features are released in the upcoming iOS 15, you’ll learn more about Apple’s plans to fight CSAM on the platform. If you don’t want Apple to scan your email, check out your iPhone’s email service provider.
