Apple says it will delay child protection measures after much criticism over privacy

Apple said on Friday it would take more time to gather feedback and improve proposed child protection features after criticism of the system on privacy and other grounds both inside and outside the company. Applelast month’s promise to check US customer phones and computers for child sex abuse images sparked a global backlash from a wide range of rights groups, with employees internally criticizing the plan. Critics argued that the feature could be exploited by repressive governments to find other content for censorship or arrest, and that it would also be impossible for outside researchers to determine whether Apple only allowed a small set of content on the device. was investigating.

Apple said it would allow security researchers to verify their claims, but the company said on Friday that it would take longer to make changes to the system. “Based on feedback from customers, advocacy groups, researchers and others, we have taken additional time over the coming months to gather input and make improvements before releasing these critical child safety features,” the company said in a statement Friday. have decided to take it.” Johns Hopkins University cybersecurity researcher Matthew Green, who criticized Apple’s move, said Apple’s move was “promising”.