Apple expresses opposition to `` bill to scan messages and images on smartphones to protect children ''



In the UK, the `` Online Safety Bill ' ' that obliges `` scanning of communication contents of message applications '' for the purpose of protecting children is being discussed. However, the online safety bill has a problem that `` it becomes difficult to protect privacy when complying with the bill '', and many professional organizations have expressed opposition to the bill. Meanwhile, Apple newly showed its opposition to the online safety bill.

Online Safety Bill: Civil society organizations urge UK to protect global digital security and safeguard private communication | Open Rights Group
https://www.openrightsgroup.org/publications/open-letter-protect-encrypted-messaging/

Apple joins opposition to encrypted message app scanning - BBC News
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66028773

The Online Safety Bill is a bill that is being discussed in the UK for the purpose of protecting children, and for operators of online platforms, it is necessary to ``delete content that harms children'' and ``restrict minors' access to the platform''. compulsory to build. The Online Safety Bill also has penalties, and violating business executives can be imprisoned for up to 2 years or fined up to 18 million pounds (about 3.3 billion yen) or up to 10% of global turnover. increase.

Protecting children is of course important, but developing systems to comply with online safety legislation is costly. For this reason, in January 2023, when the bill was passed, there were objections such as 'the survival of a platform that leads to the public interest, such as Wikipedia, is threatened.'

Wikipedia governing bodies and human rights groups oppose amendments to online safety bills that impose prison sentences on corporate executives who did not protect children from the Internet - GIGAZINE



Among such online safety bills, there is also a clause that requires 'scanning of text and images sent by messaging apps to prevent child abuse.' However, many messaging apps have implemented end-to-end encryption of their communications to protect privacy, so in order to comply with the bill, they must either remove the encryption feature or scan their transmissions before encrypting them. You have to

In addition to protecting user privacy, end-to-end encryption also plays a role in preventing the leakage of trade secrets and national secrets and protecting the safety of journalists. For this reason, if the online safety bill is enforced, the user's privacy will be violated, and the digital rights protection group `` Open Rights Group '' has received the support of more than 80 specialized agencies and has an open letter opposing the online safety bill. was announced on June 23, 2023.




After the release of the open letter, operators of messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Signal also expressed their support for the letter. In addition, Apple, which develops 'iMessage', also expressed its support.




'End-to-end encryption is a critical feature to protect the privacy of journalists, diplomats and human rights activists,' Apple told the BBC. The online safety bill poses a serious threat to privacy protections and could endanger British citizens.Apple is urging the UK government to end-to-end encryption for the benefit of all. We will seek amendments to the bill to protect civilization,' he said.

In August 2021, Apple announced a ``scanning function for photos and text on the iPhone'' aimed at protecting children. However, similar to the online safety bill, the scan function has been criticized for ``infringing on privacy'', and it is reported that the implementation of the scan function was abandoned in December 2022.

Apple discards the implementation of ``a system that checks for images of sexual child abuse in iCloud Photos''-GIGAZINE



Related Posts:

in Web Service, Posted by log1o_hf