Apple has launched a feature on its iMessage platform that will allow children to report nude images and videos to the tech firm that would then bring it to the notice of law enforcement agencies.

The change is being rolled out first in Australia from Thursday (Oct 24).

The beta release is part of an update of Apple's operating system and extends the safety measures earlier given to users aged under 13 since iOS 17.

Watch: Shocking Rise In AI-produced Child Abuse Material

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Here is how the new feature aimed at further protecting user privacy will work:

The iPhones can automatically detect images and videos that contain nudity that children might receive or attempt to send in iMessage, AirDrop, FaceTime and Photos.

When such sensitive imagery is&nbsp;detected, the young users will be given intervention screens before they can proceed.

There will be options to contact a parent or guardian and to&nbsp;report the images and videos to Apple.

The device will then generate reports containing the visuals, as well as messages preceding and following the images and videos.

The report will include contact information of both the sender and receiver.&nbsp;

Users can fill out a form to explain what happened, which Apple will review.

Action such as disabling the users' ability to send messages through iMessage will follow. 
 
Apple can also report the issue to law enforcement agencies.

The tech giant said the feature will eventually be rolled out across the world after the beta test in Australia.

Australia was chosen as the first region in the wake of new rules being implemented in the country to crack down on controversial content on tech platforms and devices.

The new rules require companies to monitor child abuse and terror-related content on messaging and cloud services in Australia by the end of 2024.

While Apple maintains that the new features would&nbsp;protect end-to-end encryption and raised concerns about mass surveillance, the law has been softened a bit.

Yet, the&nbsp;Australian&nbsp;government insists that&nbsp;companies must&nbsp;take action to tackle child abuse and terror content.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/new-york-catholic-diocese-to-pay-323mn-to-530-child-sex-abuse-survivors-in-largest-diocese-bankruptcy-762507">New York Catholic diocese to pay $323mn to 530 child sex abuse survivors, in largest US diocese bankruptcy</a>

Apple has drawn criticism across the world over its reluctance to ease up on its end-to-end encryption to help law enforcement.

There was earlier a plan from Apple to scan photos and videos stored in its iCloud for child sexual abuse material (CSAM), but that was scrapped in late 2022 over privacy concerns.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/india-trumps-china-as-manufacturer-of-apples-most-expensive-iphone-pro-and-pro-max-models-751537">Also read: India trumps China as manufacturer of Apple's most expensive iPhone Pro and Pro Max models</a> 
 
In the UK, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children had accused Apple of vastly undercounting how often CSAM appears in its products, according to a report in The Guardian newspaper.

Apple reported only 267 cases of suspected CSAM on its platforms in 2023.

That's seen as a massive under-reporting when compared to Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, which submitted more than 30 million CSAM reports. 
 
Google sent nearly 1.5 million reports in the same period.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

Apple has launched a feature on its iMessage platform that will allow children to report nude images and videos to the tech firm that would then bring it to the notice of law enforcement agencies.

Apple has launched a feature on its iMessage platform that will allow children to report nude images and videos to the tech firm that would then bring it to the notice of law enforcement agencies. The change is being rolled out first in Australia from Thursday (Oct 24). The beta release is part of an update of Apple's operating system and extends the safety measures earlier given to users aged under 13 since iOS 17. Watch: Shocking Rise In AI-produced Child Abuse Material × Here is how the new feature aimed at further protecting user privacy will work: The iPhones can automatically detect images and videos that contain nudity that children might receive or attempt to send in iMessage, AirDrop, FaceTime and Photos. When such sensitive imagery is detected, the young users will be given intervention screens before they can proceed. There will be options to contact a parent or guardian and to report the images and videos to Apple. The device will then generate reports containing the visuals, as well as messages preceding and following the images and videos. The report will include contact information of both the sender and receiver. Users can fill out a form to explain what happened, which Apple will review. Action such as disabling the users' ability to send messages through iMessage will follow. Apple can also report the issue to law enforcement agencies. The tech giant said the feature will eventually be rolled out across the world after the beta test in Australia. Australia was chosen as the first region in the wake of new rules being implemented in the country to crack down on controversial content on tech platforms and devices. The new rules require companies to monitor child abuse and terror-related content on messaging and cloud services in Australia by the end of 2024. While Apple maintains that the new features would protect end-to-end encryption and raised concerns about mass surveillance, the law has been softened a bit. Yet, the Australian government insists that companies must take action to tackle child abuse and terror content. Also read: New York Catholic diocese to pay $323mn to 530 child sex abuse survivors, in largest US diocese bankruptcy Apple has drawn criticism across the world over its reluctance to ease up on its end-to-end encryption to help law enforcement. There was earlier a plan from Apple to scan photos and videos stored in its iCloud for child sexual abuse material (CSAM), but that was scrapped in late 2022 over privacy concerns. Also read: India trumps China as manufacturer of Apple's most expensive iPhone Pro and Pro Max models In the UK, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children had accused Apple of vastly undercounting how often CSAM appears in its products, according to a report in The Guardian newspaper. Apple reported only 267 cases of suspected CSAM on its platforms in 2023. That's seen as a massive under-reporting when compared to Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, which submitted more than 30 million CSAM reports. Google sent nearly 1.5 million reports in the same period. (With inputs from agencies)

Now, children using iMessage platform can report nudity to Apple; feature rolls out in Australia

The age of the internet leaves behind a digital trail which could be dangerous for women of America. After the overturning of Roe versus Wade, abortion is already illegal in a few states but what's even more concerning is that people could be arrested for even a simple google search about abortions.

US: The future of digital privacy for women, online privacy in a post-roe world

Facebook&rsquo;s latest attempt to tackle the non-consensual sharing of sexual pictures (often known as &ldquo;revenge porn&rdquo;) appeared so wrong-headed that at first, it seemed like a joke. But the social network has made clear its system of asking users to send in explicit images that they don&rsquo;t want to appear on the site is a real pilot programme being tested in Australia.

Facebook&rsquo;s motivation is right and proper: To help women (and men) worried that their ex-partners may shame or manipulate them by uploading sexual images taken during the relationship. This unwanted sharing can have devastating consequences. Even the threat that the images could be shared can be used by controlling, violent abusers to force their victims into line, as has been recognised by a new Scottish law to criminalise this.

To prevent people falling victim to this practice, users are urged to use Facebook&rsquo;s Messenger app to send themselves any pictures at risk of being shared. Facebook will then &ldquo;hash&rdquo; the image, creating a numerical fingerprint of it. The picture itself can then be deleted and Facebook has said images will not be stored permanently on their servers. When another Facebook user uploads a picture, it will be run through the database of hashes. If it matches an image in the database, it will be blocked and cannot be posted or shared on Facebook.

Would this work? If a picture uploaded by a vengeful ex is identical to the one uploaded by their frightened victim then yes, it will be blocked. But there is nothing to stop the ex-uploading it to another site and linking to it on Facebook, even if it wouldn&rsquo;t appear on Facebook itself.

But what if the ex-realises why they have been blocked and changes the picture slightly? Hashes work for identical pictures. Alex Stamos, chief security officer for Facebook, said that simple changes like re-sizing should not fool the hash. It&rsquo;s not clear whether cropping it, adding a filter or scribbling on the background will create a different hash that will fail to match.

The security implications surrounding this are significant. First, just sending an image is a risk. The user is creating a copy of the photo that could be hacked or intercepted, especially if their phone or computer is stolen. Then there is the possibility of human error by the user. It seems likely at least some people will accidentally send the images to someone else in their contact list instead of to themselves.

Finally, there is the enormous issue of how far we can trust Facebook and its staff. This is a small pilot and is likely to be run to tight standards. But further issues will likely appear if it is scaled up. In order to create a hash, the picture has to be seen by a member of Facebook&rsquo;s staff. Antigone Davis, Facebook&rsquo;s global head of safety, says the images will only be seen by &ldquo;a specially trained representative from our community operations team&rdquo;. Doubtless in the pilot, these people will be well vetted.

But if this was to be rolled out to Facebook&rsquo;s billion-strong community of users, this team would have to be enormously expanded. The mind-bending work of ill-paid, ill-trained and replaceable community moderators has been well documented. These people, tempted by the idea of a first-rung on a career as a fashionable company, can be traumatised by the endless viewing of horrific pictures of animal cruelty, car crashes and sexual violence, and often burn out within months.

Can Facebook guarantee that these photos, trustingly uploaded by desperate people trying to break free from damaging relationships, will only be seen by responsible staff? Or will they, over time, be farmed out to subcontractors, trainees and people who are themselves damaged by constant exposure to violence and sex online. However good Facebook&rsquo;s own security is, there would be little to stop a disgruntled, bored or malicious employee simply taking pictures of their screen with their phone and uploading them to another site.

Then there is the corporation itself. The company has a long history of controversial changes to its terms and conditions, including how they use and retain users&rsquo; data, even after people have quit the platform. They have fought court cases brought by revenge porn victims who feel failed by the system, in one case by a British 14-year-old.

This is a well-meaning initiative, but it&rsquo;s just not clear that we can trust this commercial organisation to make the right decisions about how they hold this most sensitive data. Stamos has complained that the company gets criticised for imperfect solutions. It&rsquo;s true that partial solutions are better than none, and those pre-emptive solutions are better than clean-ups when the damage is done. But this is a solution that carries its own risk.

This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com" rel="nofollow" target="blank">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/facebook-wants-your-nude-photos-to-prevent-revenge-porn-heres-why-you-should-be-sceptical-87390" rel="nofollow" target="blank">original article</a>.

Image Credit:&nbsp;Shutterstock

Facebook attempts to tackle the non-consensual sharing of sexual pictures but it appears to be an imperfect solution

Facebook’s latest attempt to tackle the non-consensual sharing of sexual pictures (often known as “revenge porn”) appeared so wrong-headed that at first, it seemed like a joke. But the social network has made clear its system of asking users to send in explicit images that they don’t want to appear on the site is a real pilot programme being tested in Australia. Facebook’s motivation is right and proper: To help women (and men) worried that their ex-partners may shame or manipulate them by uploading sexual images taken during the relationship. This unwanted sharing can have devastating consequences. Even the threat that the images could be shared can be used by controlling, violent abusers to force their victims into line, as has been recognised by a new Scottish law to criminalise this. To prevent people falling victim to this practice, users are urged to use Facebook’s Messenger app to send themselves any pictures at risk of being shared. Facebook will then “hash” the image, creating a numerical fingerprint of it. The picture itself can then be deleted and Facebook has said images will not be stored permanently on their servers. When another Facebook user uploads a picture, it will be run through the database of hashes. If it matches an image in the database, it will be blocked and cannot be posted or shared on Facebook. Would this work? If a picture uploaded by a vengeful ex is identical to the one uploaded by their frightened victim then yes, it will be blocked. But there is nothing to stop the ex-uploading it to another site and linking to it on Facebook, even if it wouldn’t appear on Facebook itself. But what if the ex-realises why they have been blocked and changes the picture slightly? Hashes work for identical pictures. Alex Stamos, chief security officer for Facebook, said that simple changes like re-sizing should not fool the hash. It’s not clear whether cropping it, adding a filter or scribbling on the background will create a different hash that will fail to match. The security implications surrounding this are significant. First, just sending an image is a risk. The user is creating a copy of the photo that could be hacked or intercepted, especially if their phone or computer is stolen. Then there is the possibility of human error by the user. It seems likely at least some people will accidentally send the images to someone else in their contact list instead of to themselves. Finally, there is the enormous issue of how far we can trust Facebook and its staff. This is a small pilot and is likely to be run to tight standards. But further issues will likely appear if it is scaled up. In order to create a hash, the picture has to be seen by a member of Facebook’s staff. Antigone Davis, Facebook’s global head of safety, says the images will only be seen by “a specially trained representative from our community operations team”. Doubtless in the pilot, these people will be well vetted. But if this was to be rolled out to Facebook’s billion-strong community of users, this team would have to be enormously expanded. The mind-bending work of ill-paid, ill-trained and replaceable community moderators has been well documented. These people, tempted by the idea of a first-rung on a career as a fashionable company, can be traumatised by the endless viewing of horrific pictures of animal cruelty, car crashes and sexual violence, and often burn out within months. Can Facebook guarantee that these photos, trustingly uploaded by desperate people trying to break free from damaging relationships, will only be seen by responsible staff? Or will they, over time, be farmed out to subcontractors, trainees and people who are themselves damaged by constant exposure to violence and sex online. However good Facebook’s own security is, there would be little to stop a disgruntled, bored or malicious employee simply taking pictures of their screen with their phone and uploading them to another site. Then there is the corporation itself. The company has a long history of controversial changes to its terms and conditions, including how they use and retain users’ data, even after people have quit the platform. They have fought court cases brought by revenge porn victims who feel failed by the system, in one case by a British 14-year-old. This is a well-meaning initiative, but it’s just not clear that we can trust this commercial organisation to make the right decisions about how they hold this most sensitive data. Stamos has complained that the company gets criticised for imperfect solutions. It’s true that partial solutions are better than none, and those pre-emptive solutions are better than clean-ups when the damage is done. But this is a solution that carries its own risk. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Image Credit: Shutterstock

Facebook wants your nude photos to prevent 'revenge porn' - but be careful

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