Apple clarifies why it abandoned plan to detect CSAM in iCloud photos
<i>&gt; “Scanning every user’s privately stored iCloud data would create new threat vectors for data thieves to find and exploit,&quot; Neuenschwander wrote. &quot;It would also inject the potential for a slippery slope of unintended consequences. Scanning for one type of content, for instance, opens the door for bulk surveillance and could create a desire to search other encrypted messaging systems across content types.”</i><p>Both of these arguments are absolutely, unambiguously, correct.<p>The other side of the coin is that criminals are using E2EE communication systems to share sexual abuse material in ways and at rates which they were not previously able to. This is, I argue, a bad thing. Is is bad for the individuals who are re-victimised on every share. It is also bad for the fabric of society at large, in the sense that if we don&#x27;t clearly take a stand against abhorrent behaviour then we are in some sense condoning it.<p>Does the tech industry have any alternate solutions that could functionally mitigate this abuse? Does the industry feel that it has any responsibility at all to do so? Or do we all just shout &quot;yay, individual freedom wins again!&quot; and forget about the actual problem that this (misguided) initiative was originally aimed at?