Reply to post: Re: How the hell...

Apple is about to start scanning iPhone users' devices for banned content, professor warns

TRT Silver badge

Re: How the hell...

My understanding from the much more in depth Reg article is that they're using the AI-like technology that already goes through photos on your phone or on your MacOS device (OK, the ones in Photos anyway - there's no law that says you HAVE to store those files in Photos.app) to spot potentially dodgy images, and create a hashed version of it in some form that still allows comparison after minor edits are done, send the hash off to Apple for checking against a database of known dodgy images that are in circulation, and then... what? if it finds a match shops you to the feds? grabs all your phone history and contacts and people you've circulated the image to or received the images from and thus profiles a paedophilic ring? Those details aren't clear!

They could of course do the same for any criminal activity... it's just easier to justify piloting it with kiddie porn. Photos of stolen cars circulated amongst gang members looking to offload a hot motor? Farm equipment is a hot crime at the moment. Sexual abuse of adults? Revenge Porn? Reconnaissance photos of banks, jewellers, wealthy domiciles, industrial premises with valuable IP sent around gang members? Beatings given to transgressors of Gang Rules? I believe these are often shared.

I'm not saying if it's right or wrong, it just appears to me to be the thin end of a wedge.

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon