Does the technology exist to ban children from taking explicit images?published at 10:47 BST
10:47 BST
Joe Tidy
Cyber correspondent
In short, yes – but only in limited cases. Apple already uses
technology which can detect nudity on devices through its Sensitive Content
Warning system.
On Apple devices, nude images received via
iMessage, AirDrop, FaceTime video messages and shared photo albums can be
blurred automatically, with users warned: “This may be sensitive”. Parents can
also receive alerts.
Android has a similar feature, though it currently only works in
Google Messages.
So the technology already exists for detecting received nude
content but the bigger challenge is stopping people from sending them – which is
far harder to enforce.
Much of the Child Sexual Abuse Material involving coerced children
is shared through end-to-end encrypted services such as WhatsApp, Signal,
Discord and FaceTime, where only the sender and recipient can view messages.
Apple does include FaceTime in its warning system through a workaround,
suggesting broader protections may be possible.
But attempts to expand scanning systems have previously sparked
major backlash from privacy campaigners concerned about surveillance and
encryption.