Last week, Apple kicked the board by announcing the addition of new child protection options in its upcoming operating systems. Although those of Cupertino have stressed their commitment to maintaining the privacy of users, the ad was greeted with mixed reviews. The criticisms are not related to the objective pursued (to detect material related to child abuse), but to the method chosen to scan photos on the devices – through the iPhone, for example – and in iCloud.
Although initially these features will only be available in the United States, there is also interest in whether it is possible to apply them in other countries. In the last hours, Apple published an article responding to frequent questions on this child protection initiative, to shed more light on the issue. But that was not all; the Californian company also conducted a question and answer round with reporters to expand on some concepts.
The session did not have announcements of any kind, but it did leave some news for the future. According to Macrumors, Apple would consider expanding its child protection options to third-party apps. In fact, according to the publication, for the company it is “a desirable goal.”
Apple’s new child protection options could also reach third-party apps
It is still impossible to know how Apple would take its recently announced features to third-party platforms. Macrumors speculates that it could provide the tools so that reinforced security in Messages is also available in apps like WhatsApp, Instagram or Snapchat. Thus, sexually explicit images sent to children would be blurred, and their parents or guardians would be automatically notified about it.
On the other hand, the scan for material related to child abuse could be expanded to applications upload photos to cloud services other than iCloud. Whatever the case, from Apple they clarified that they did not set a specific date for the child protection options to be available to third parties. “The company […] It said it must ensure that any potential expansion does not undermine the privacy properties or the effectiveness of the functions, “the report said.
As Apple tries to clarify how these new child protection features work, expert response is still negative. One of the most vocal about it has been crypto specialist Matthew Green (who revealed Apple’s plans in the first place), but he has not been the only one. They have also demonstrated against personalities such as Edward snowden and organizations such as Electronic Frontier Foundation.
