https://www.wired.com/story/apple-photo-scanning-csam-communication-safety-messages/ Skip to main content Open Navigation Menu To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Close Alert WIRED Apple Kills Its Plan to Scan Your Photos for CSAM. Here's What's Next * Backchannel * Business * Culture * Gear * Ideas * Science * Security More To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Close Alert Sign In Search * Backchannel * Business * Culture * Gear * Ideas * Science * Security * Podcasts * Video * Artificial Intelligence * Climate * Games * Newsletters * Magazine * Events * Wired Insider * Jobs * Coupons Lily Hay Newman Security Dec 7, 2022 1:11 PM Apple Kills Its Plan to Scan Your Photos for CSAM. Here's What's Next The company plans to expand its Communication Safety features, which aim to disrupt the sharing of child sexual abuse material at the source. * * * * To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories . Abstract illustration of Apple photos symbol code and a lock Illustration: Jacqui VanLiew * * * * To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories . In August 2021, Apple announced a plan to scan photos that users stored in iCloud for child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The tool was meant to be privacy-preserving and allow the company to flag potentially problematic and abusive content without revealing anything else. But the initiative was controversial, and it soon drew widespread criticism from privacy and security researchers and digital rights groups who were concerned that the surveillance capability itself could be abused to undermine the privacy and security of iCloud users around the world. At the beginning of September 2021, Apple said it would pause the rollout of the feature to "collect input and make improvements before releasing these critically important child safety features." In other words, a launch was still coming. Now the company says that in response to the feedback and guidance it received, the CSAM-detection tool for iCloud photos is dead. Instead, Apple told WIRED this week, it is focusing its anti-CSAM efforts and investments on its "Communication Safety" features, which the company initially announced in August 2021 and launched last December. Parents and caregivers can opt into the protections through family iCloud accounts. The features work in Siri, Apple's Spotlight search, and Safari Search to warn if someone is looking at or searching for child sexual abuse materials and provide resources on the spot to report the content and seek help. Additionally, the core of the protection is Communication Safety for Messages, which caregivers can set up to provide a warning and resources to children if they receive or attempt to send photos that contain nudity. The goal is to stop child exploitation before it happens or becomes entrenched and reduce the creation of new CSAM. "After extensive consultation with experts to gather feedback on child protection initiatives we proposed last year, we are deepening our investment in the Communication Safety feature that we first made available in December 2021," the company told WIRED in a statement. "We have further decided to not move forward with our previously proposed CSAM detection tool for iCloud Photos. Children can be protected without companies combing through personal data, and we will continue working with governments, child advocates, and other companies to help protect young people, preserve their right to privacy, and make the internet a safer place for children and for us all." Apple's CSAM update comes alongside its announcement today that the company is vastly expanding its end-to-end encryption offerings for iCloud, including adding the protection for backups and photos stored on the cloud service. Child safety experts and technologists working to combat CSAM have often opposed broader deployment of end-to-end encryption because it renders user data inaccessible to tech companies, making it more difficult for them to scan and flag CSAM. Law enforcement agencies around the world have similarly cited the dire problem of child sexual abuse in opposing the use and expansion of end-to-end encryption, though many of these agencies have historically been hostile toward end-to-end encryption in general because it can make some investigations more challenging. Research has consistently shown, though, that end-to-end encryption is a vital safety tool for protecting human rights and that the downsides of its implementation do not outweigh the benefits. Communication Safety for Messages is opt-in and analyzes image attachments users send and receive on their devices to determine whether a photo contains nudity. The feature is designed so Apple never gets access to the messages, the end-to-end encryption that Messages offers is never broken, and Apple doesn't even learn that a device has detected nudity. The company told WIRED that while it is not ready to announce a specific timeline for expanding its Communication Safety features, the company is working on adding the ability to detect nudity in videos sent through Messages when the protection is enabled. The company also plans to expand the offering beyond Messages to its other communication applications. Ultimately, the goal is to make it possible for third-party developers to incorporate the Communication Safety tools into their own applications. The more the features can proliferate, Apple says, the more likely it is that children will get the information and support they need before they are exploited. Most Popular * Monsoon storm over Las Vegas science Pliocene-Like Monsoons Are Returning to the American Southwest Jim Morrison * [undefined] gear 20 Viral TikTok Gifts That Are Actually Worth It Brenda Stolyar * two rangers riding ebikes science Park Rangers Are Using Silent Ebikes to Catch Poachers Andy Jones * stax wallet backchannel Tony Fadell Is Trying to Build the iPod of Crypto Steven Levy * "Potential child exploitation can be interrupted before it happens by providing opt-in tools for parents to help protect their children from unsafe communications," the company said in its statement. "Apple is dedicated to developing innovative privacy-preserving solutions to combat Child Sexual Abuse Material and protect children, while addressing the unique privacy needs of personal communications and data storage." Similar to other companies that have grappled publicly with how to address CSAM--including Meta--Apple told WIRED that it also plans to continue working with child safety experts to make it as easy as possible for its users to report exploitative content and situations to advocacy organizations and law enforcement. "Technology that detects CSAM before it is sent from a child's device can prevent that child from being a victim of sextortion or other sexual abuse, and can help identify children who are currently being exploited," says Erin Earp, interim vice president of public policy at the anti-sexual violence organization RAINN. "Additionally, because the minor is typically sending newly or recently created images, it is unlikely that such images would be detected by other technology, such as Photo DNA. While the vast majority of online CSAM is created by someone in the victim's circle of trust, which may not be captured by the type of scanning mentioned, combatting the online sexual abuse and exploitation of children requires technology companies to innovate and create new tools. Scanning for CSAM before the material is sent by a child's device is one of these such tools and can help limit the scope of the problem." Countering CSAM is a complicated and nuanced endeavor with extremely high stakes for kids around the world, and it's still unknown how much traction Apple's bet on proactive intervention will get. But tech giants are walking a fine line as they work to balance CSAM detection and user privacy. Updated 5:20pm ET, Wednesday, December 7, 2022 to include commentary from RAINN. More Great WIRED Stories * The latest on tech, science, and more: Get our newsletters! * Picture limitless creativity at your fingertips * I lost $17,000 in crypto * Ebooks made me fall back in love with reading * The physics of scuba diving * Crypto contagion is spreading, fast * [?] Explore AI like never before with our new database * Upgrade your work game with our Gear team's favorite laptops, keyboards, typing alternatives, and noise-canceling headphones [undefined] Lily Hay Newman is a senior writer at WIRED focused on information security, digital privacy, and hacking. She previously worked as a technology reporter at Slate magazine and was the staff writer for Future Tense, a publication and project of Slate, the New America Foundation, and Arizona State University. Additionally... Read more Senior Writer * TopicsappleCrimeprivacy More from WIRED Illustration of abstract web browsers, programming symbols, and plus signs The 'Viral' Secure Programming Language That's Taking Over Tech Rust makes it impossible to introduce some of the most common security vulnerabilities. And its adoption can't come soon enough. Lily Hay Newman crowd of people in the room during the Jan 6 committee hearing The Quiet Insurrection the January 6 Committee Missed A former congressman who helped the House select committee investigate the Capitol attack says the US is losing sight of the big picture. Matt Laslo A frowning elderly person peeps sideways suspiciously through the slats of a venetian blind, looking disapproving and concerned. When Your Neighbor Turns You In Authoritarian societies depend on people ratting each other out for activities that were recently legal--and it's already happening in the US. Thor Benson Underwater fiber optic internet cable lying on the ocean floor. The Most Vulnerable Place on the Internet Underwater cables keep the internet online. When they congregate in one place, things get tricky. Matt Burgess Illustration of a car crashing into a closed gate The Hunt for the Dark Web's Biggest Kingpin, Part 1: The Shadow AlphaBay was the largest online drug bazaar in history, run by a technological mastermind who seemed untouchable--until his tech was turned against him. Andy Greenberg [undefined] You Need a Password Manager. Here Are the Best Ones Keep your logins locked down with our favorite apps for PC, Mac, Android, iPhone, and web browsers. Scott Gilbertson $100 United States dollar bill underneath a piece of cracked glass, colored neon green. Scammers Are Scamming Other Scammers Out of Millions of Dollars On cybercrime forums, user complaints about being duped may accidentally expose their real identities. Matt Burgess [undefined] The Dangerous Digital Creep of Britain's 'Hostile Environment' The UK's use of technology to enforce its hard-line immigration policy brings the border into every facet of migrants' lives. Sanjana Varghese WIRED WIRED is where tomorrow is realized. It is the essential source of information and ideas that make sense of a world in constant transformation. The WIRED conversation illuminates how technology is changing every aspect of our lives--from culture to business, science to design. The breakthroughs and innovations that we uncover lead to new ways of thinking, new connections, and new industries. * * * * * * More From WIRED * Subscribe * Newsletters * FAQ * Wired Staff * Press Center * Coupons * Editorial Standards * Black Friday Contact * Advertise * Contact Us * Customer Care * Jobs * RSS * Accessibility Help * Conde Nast Store * Conde Nast Spotlight * Do Not Sell My Personal Info (c) 2022 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. Ad Choices Select international siteUnited States * UK * Italia * Japon