UK pushing for on-device scanning for child abuse materials

Posted:
in iOS
Britain's government is proposing legislation that would require WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Apple's Messages to adopt automatic scanning for child sexual abuse material.




Also known in the UK as child sexual abuse and exploitation content (CSAE), the proposal from controversial Home Secretary Priti Patel wants to amend the country's digital safety legislation.

It follows Patel's praising of Apple's child sexual abuse material (CSAM) moves that she published after the company had instead delayed the technology. According to The Guardian, it also follows Patel's criticism of Mark Zuckerberg's plans to add end-to-end encryption to Instagram and Messenger.

"Child sexual abuse is a sickening crime," Patel said. "We must all work to ensure criminals are not allowed to run rampant online and technology companies must play their part and take responsibility for keeping our children safe."

"Privacy and security are not mutually exclusive," she continued, "we need both, and we can have both and that is what this amendment delivers."

The proposal would affect Big Tech firms such as Apple and Google. It does not, however, come under the aegis of the UK's big tech regulator -- because that has been formed without any powers.

Instead, Patel's proposal is for a legislative amendment that would see the country's Ofcom communications regulator gain further powers. The proposal is expected to become law after it returns to parliament later in July.

If it does, then Ofcom would have the ability to impose fines of up to either 10% of a company's global turnover or $21.4 million, whichever is higher.

Ofcom already has the authority to require companies to deploy what it calls "accredited technology." The change would step that up to require firms to use "best endeavours" to use or to develop new technology to do this job.

That previous Ofcom regulation applied to how the UK requires cloud services to scan for CSAM content. The most significant element of the amendment is that it would now require them to also scan secure messages.

Consequently, companies would either have to produce an on-device scanning system, or introduce scanning for messages in-flight. The latter would therefore break end-to-end encryption.

The UK has previously objected to end-to-end encryption, and has used the issue of child abuse materials as part of that.

Apple delayed its CSAM technology following criticism from
security experts, including those who developed a CSAM scanning system.

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    laytechlaytech Posts: 334member
    Great idea and every country and every technology company should do this, including scanning emails.
  • Reply 2 of 15
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    laytech said:
    Great idea and every country and every technology company should do this, including scanning emails.
    Definitely. And including scanning our calls and installing cameras in our homes. Also scan our children just to “make sure” they aren’t being abused.

    also the government should track our location and scan our vehicles and what we’re watching.




    NO.

    muthuk_vanalingambluefire1darkvaderbaconstangFileMakerFeller
  • Reply 3 of 15
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,591member
    Beats said:
    laytech said:
    Great idea and every country and every technology company should do this, including scanning emails.
    Definitely. And including scanning our calls and installing cameras in our homes. Also scan our children just to “make sure” they aren’t being abused.

    also the government should track our location and scan our vehicles and what we’re watching.




    NO.

    The whole thing is one pretty big prickly pear with no one-size-fits-all solution.

    Facial recognition, tracking, profiling etc are already present in varying states of deployment in the west as legislation tries to keep pace.

    I tend to err on the side of caution here and lean towards the right of total privacy, with the thinking that the criminal element remains a matter of the few and that there are better ways to 'out' them than by imposing society-wide pre-emptive checks on everyone. 

    But I simply don't have the depth of knowledge on the intricacies of the matter to be able to form a solid opinion. 


    muthuk_vanalingambaconstangFileMakerFeller
  • Reply 4 of 15
    laytech said:
    Great idea and every country and every technology company should do this, including scanning emails.
    Ummmm, no. 
    Beatsdarkvaderbaconstang
  • Reply 5 of 15
    avon b7 said
    But I simply don't have the depth of knowledge on the intricacies of the matter to be able to form a solid opinion. 


    How refreshing to encounter someone who knows their limits and who publicly acknowledges it!

    avon_b7, please tell me you have at least 6 children!

    BeatsbaconstangFileMakerFeller
  • Reply 6 of 15
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 3,945member
    Don’t be taking any pics of your kids in the bath or you may get a knock on the door. 
    Beatsdarkvader
  • Reply 7 of 15
    Don’t be taking any pics of your kids in the bath or you may get a knock on the door. 
    It doesn’t work that way. 
  • Reply 8 of 15
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    Don’t be taking any pics of your kids in the bath or you may get a knock on the door. 
    It doesn’t work that way. 

    Not yet. 

    People don’t understand how long the government has been trying to put one foot in the door to our homes. That’s all this is. Same with the government trying to install back doors to stop the .00000001% of people who are terrorists. 
    muthuk_vanalingamdarkvaderbaconstang
  • Reply 9 of 15
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,415member
    They scan for a match found in database. They don't get data at all. They have no way of knowing what data you have.  

    I am fine with that approach. 

    I would not be fine if they actually read data. But that's not what is happening. 


     
  • Reply 10 of 15
    darkvaderdarkvader Posts: 1,146member
    netrox said:
    They scan for a match found in database. They don't get data at all. They have no way of knowing what data you have.  

    I am fine with that approach. 

    I would not be fine if they actually read data. But that's not what is happening.

    Somebody sends you a text that has an image that matches something in the database.  That image is scanned.  The government is alerted.  You are arrested, all of your electronics are seized.  Days to months later, it's discovered it isn't your fault and you're released (if you're lucky).  Years later you get your 'accidentally' damaged devices back.  Your face is in the paper and on the internet because you've been accused of having kiddie porn.  You lose your job, you lose your friends, you lose your home, you may even lose your family.  Nobody pays attention to your innocence, you're forever known to the public as a child molester.

    You fine with that?  Because that's how this will end up working.
    muthuk_vanalingambaconstangbeowulfschmidtionicle
  • Reply 11 of 15
    baconstangbaconstang Posts: 1,099member
    Those wankers in the UK are just fishing, probably with the encouragement of the church.
  • Reply 12 of 15
    baconstangbaconstang Posts: 1,099member
    Who decides what's in the database?
    In the UK?   In China?   In USSR, I mean Russia?   In the US?
    In 80% of the world?
  • Reply 13 of 15
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Who decides what's in the database?
    In the UK?   In China?   In USSR, I mean Russia?   In the US?
    In 80% of the world?
    Apple's proposed CSAM detection "uses image hashes that are based on images acquired and validated to be CSAM by at least two child safety organizations"

    https://www.apple.com/child-safety/pdf/Expanded_Protections_for_Children_Frequently_Asked_Questions.pdf
    FileMakerFeller
  • Reply 14 of 15
    Those wankers in the UK are just fishing, probably with the encouragement of the church.
    Nah. I'm sure the church already has a collection of CSAM more than sufficient for their needs.

    /s
    baconstangbeowulfschmidt
  • Reply 15 of 15
    Anyone paying attention saw this coming as soon as Apple announced on-device scanning.
    baconstang
Sign In or Register to comment.