Apple plans to scan iPhones. Apple will scan photo libraries stored on iPhones in the US for known images of child sexual abuse, the company says, drawing praise from child protection groups but crossing a line that privacy campaigners warn could have dangerous ramifications. The company will also examine the contents of end-to-end encrypted messages for the first time.
There are many issues raised by this activity. The benefits of carrying out this action. The potential that this will work (or not). The ramifications of such an action on personal freedom by the precedent being set. The potential (despite the assurances given) of false positives – what if your phone or email is compromised and a bot is sending out pictures that you are unaware exist?
The probability that this WILL be abused by several parties either politically or commercially… imagine the plausibility of a ‘Minority Report’ scenario.
Many people have had those spooky moments when you happen to talk about a random, not in your radar, topic without doing any texting or browsing or commentary, only to find that adverts related to that topic appear in your feeds. e.g. you are talking with your parents about what adult diapers great aunt Ethel will need to be available on her annual visit and discover that she has a liking for tangerine scented ones. Next thing you know, every retailer of citrus scented adult diapers is wanting you, a twenty or thirty something individual, to buy.
Just the act of scanning the metadata would disclose a lot about the who, what, where, and when the picture was taken. It could draw connections between your being in a place, at a certain time, with specific individuals and doing x/y/z etc. And arrive at a completely opposite interpretation of what events took place.
I am certain successes will be touted but a finer investigation is likely to disclose that those caught committing the act are likely to be the dumb, the technically challenged, the technically compromised, and the gullible. Meanwhile, anyone in the know is aware of encryption products and methods which can make information invisible. If David Copperfield can disappear the Statue of Liberty… here… without any magic data can disappear…