The New York Times says Apple was forced by Congress members to scan for CSAM

[Samdh90]

Still doesn't answer why this method and on device. No other company does this.

I don't want to go out and blatantly state that Apple lied about the "only icloud photos" thing but I am can only assume that they would scan on-device so that way that all modern devices are scanned regularly for CSAM. Otherwise, the nasty people that actually have such content would simply need to disable icloud photos to get around the new policy shift.

With that said, at this point, I would treat anything that you have on your phone as information that may not be private from this point on. It might be a paranoid approach but given the circumstances and how privacy has seemingly been thrown out when it comes to all tech, nothing would surprise me.

Apple scans our phones, Google scans our phones, history, location, and other things, Microsoft scans our PCs, our TVs serve us Ads now and monitors what we watch to serve more ads(SmartTV).

 

[dk001]

The quiet by Apple is concerning. This is a case where a bit more info is better. Silence is not helping them.

 

[GrumpyCoder]

Not surprising, governments... US, China, Russia, all the same. "Report CSAM or we will force you...", coming soon "Report unpopular political opinions or we will force you...".

Apple should just fully open-source macOS and iOS and keep selling devices. Or maybe it's time to be a pirate (again).

 

[Samdh90]

Not surprising, governments... US, China, Russia, all the same. "Report CSAM or we will force you...", coming soon "Report unpopular political opinions or we will force you...".

Apple should just fully open-source macOS and iOS and keep selling devices. Or maybe it's time to be a pirate (again).

Not to sound like a aluminum foil but you could always try linux on a PC if needed. At least the source code is readily available.

 

[GrumpyCoder]

Not to sound like a aluminum foil but you could always try linux on a PC if needed. At least the source code is readily available.

I've been using Linux longer than modern macOS (X), servers and workstations. I need CUDA, easy portability to GPU clusters, etc. I already have additional Linux and Windows machines running, desktop and laptop in addition to my Macs. Nothing wrong with Linux, but macOS has a more polished UI which makes it nicer to use.

 

[Samdh90]

I've been using Linux longer than modern macOS (X), servers and workstations. I need CUDA, easy portability to GPU clusters, etc. I already have additional Linux and Windows machines running, desktop and laptop in addition to my Macs. Nothing wrong with Linux, but macOS has a more polished UI which makes it nicer to use.

I totally understand, the UI is definitely an important factor. I only mentioned Linux because of the open-source nature of it. Unfortunately, not much else is open-source when talking about an OS.

 

[mikecwest]

If you were a person in the USA that has these types of images.
1/ would you stay with Apple?
2/ would you actually load them to iCloud?

My guess would be no, so does this make the process mute.
Would be nice to see if revenue reduces in the US because of this.

Maybe just word of this plan, will help get people that do have it, to delete it and be scared to share it.

 

[GBaughma]

They're NOT required, in fact, the law DISCOURAGES providers from actively seeking CSAM.

I say again....

Many people have stated that Apple is required to do this, as a service provider.
Someone also linked to the actual law; 18USC2258A.
Here's an interesting part of this. 2258A, section (f)

(f) Protection of Privacy.-Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a provider to-
(1) monitor any user, subscriber, or customer of that provider;
(2) monitor the content of any communication of any person described in paragraph (1); or
(3) affirmatively search, screen, or scan for facts or circumstances described in sections (a) and (b).

Now... read that again carefully. NOTHING in this section shall be construed to *require* a provider to...
... MONITOR ANY USER, SUBSCRIBER, OR CUSTOMER
... MONITOR THE CONTENT OF ANY COMMUNICATION...
... AFFIRMATIVELY SEARCH, SCREEN OR SCAN FOR FACTS OR CIRCUMSTANCES.

That being said, this is a CHOICE by Apple... and NOT A REQUIREMENT. In fact, the law specifically says that they are NOT REQUIRED to scan, monitor or search for CSAM. Just to report it if it is discovered.

 

[hans1972]

They're NOT required, in fact, the law DISCOURAGES providers from actively seeking CSAM.

I say again....

Many people have stated that Apple is required to do this, as a service provider.
Someone also linked to the actual law; 18USC2258A.
Here's an interesting part of this. 2258A, section (f)

(f) Protection of Privacy.-Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a provider to-
(1) monitor any user, subscriber, or customer of that provider;
(2) monitor the content of any communication of any person described in paragraph (1); or
(3) affirmatively search, screen, or scan for facts or circumstances described in sections (a) and (b).

Now... read that again carefully. NOTHING in this section shall be construed to *require* a provider to...
... MONITOR ANY USER, SUBSCRIBER, OR CUSTOMER
... MONITOR THE CONTENT OF ANY COMMUNICATION...
... AFFIRMATIVELY SEARCH, SCREEN OR SCAN FOR FACTS OR CIRCUMSTANCES.

That being said, this is a CHOICE by Apple... and NOT A REQUIREMENT. In fact, the law specifically says that they are NOT REQUIRED to scan, monitor or search for CSAM. Just to report it if it is discovered.

Yes, we knew all the time.

They aren't doing it for a law right now but probably to avoid future laws and regulation.

 

[matrix07]

On today’s episode of the NYT’s Podcast “The Daily,” they say that at a hearing about encryption in late 2019, some members of Congress told Apple “if you’re not going to solve this problem [about CSAM], we’re going to force you to do it.” Then, the podcast says that’s when Apple set out to solve the problem.

Time stamp: 4:00

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daily/id1200361736

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4oGuvoCiUg4XXOHMaSi8lb

This is more understandable.

 

[Budgiemac]

Well we all knew this was gonna happen. Apple iCops App was coming.