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Since Apple introduced the new child safety protection tools this week, opinions have instantly divided. While some think it’s a huge deal to protect children, others think it will only create a backdoor for governments to access people’s iPhones.
Now, WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart is the latest to join those who think Apple’s new child safety tools could be bad.
This is not the first time that Cathcart has criticized Apple. A few weeks ago, the CEO of WhatsApp called Apple about the NSO malware in an interview with the Guardian and said the company should “be loud, participate” rather than saying it won’t affect many of its users.
As another controversy mounts, Will Cathcart believes that the approach taken by Apple is “introducing something of great concern to the world” and that WhatsApp will not adopt something similar in its system. Although it’s important to keep in mind that it has been reported that Facebook wants to be able to read people’s messages on WhatsApp for targeted ads.
Here is what Will Cathcart said:
“Apple has long needed to do more to combat CSAM, but the approach they are taking introduces something of great concern to the world. Instead of focusing on making it easy for people to report content shared with them, Apple made software that can scan all the private photos on your phone, even photos you haven’t shared with anyone. It’s not privacy.
(…) Can this scanning software running on your phone be error-proof? Researchers were not allowed to find out. Why not? How will we know how often errors violate people’s privacy? What will happen when spyware companies find a way to exploit this software? Recent reports have shown the cost of vulnerabilities in iOS software as is. What if someone finds out how to exploit this new system?
Although Cathcart is another big voice against Apple in this case, joining others such as Edward Snowden and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an internal rating obtained by 9to5mac shows Apple is responding to concerns about the re-digitization of photos:
Keeping children safe is such an important mission. Much like Apple, pursuing this goal required deep cross-functional engagement, spanning engineering, GA, HI, legal, product marketing, and public relations. What we announced today is the product of this incredible collaboration, which provides tools to protect children, but also to maintain Apple’s deep commitment to user privacy.
We have seen a lot of positive responses today. We know some people have some misunderstandings and more than one worried about the implications, but we’ll continue to explain and detail the features so people understand what we’ve built. And while a lot of hard work awaits us to deliver the features over the next few months, I wanted to share this note we received today from NCMEC. I found it incredibly motivating and I hope you do too.
What do you think of Apple’s announcements for extended child safety protections? Let us know in the comments.
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