Apple’s Decision to Kill Its CSAM Photo-Scanning Tool Sparks Fresh Controversy

LILY HAY NEWMAN SECURITY

Child safety group Heat Initiative plans to launch a campaign pressing Apple on child sexual abuse material scanning and user reporting. The company issued a rare, detailed response on Thursday.

PHOTOGRAPH: LEONARDO MUNOZ/GETTY IMAGES

IN DECEMBER, APPLE said that it was killing an effort to design a privacy-preserving iCloud photo-scanning tool for detecting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on the platform. Originally announced in August 2021, the project had been controversial since its inception. Apple had first paused it that September in response to concerns from digital rights groups and researchers that such a tool would inevitably be abused and exploited to compromise the privacy and security of all iCloud users. This week, a new child safety group known as Heat Initiative told Apple that it is organizing a campaign to demand that the company “detect, report, and remove” child sexual abuse material from iCloud and offer more tools for users to report CSAM to the company. 

Today, in a rare move, Apple responded to Heat Initiative, outlining its reasons for abandoning the development of its iCloud CSAM scanning feature and instead focusing on a set of on-device tools and resources for users known collectively as Communication Safety features. The company's response to Heat Initiative, which Apple shared with WIRED this morning, offers a rare look not just at its rationale for pivoting to Communication Safety, but at its broader views on creating mechanisms to circumvent user privacy protections, such as encryption, to monitor data. This stance is relevant to the encryption debate more broadly, especially as countries like the United Kingdom weigh passing laws that would require tech companies to be able to access user data to comply with law enforcement requests.

“Child sexual abuse material is abhorrent and we are committed to breaking the chain of coercion and influence that makes children susceptible to it,” Erik Neuenschwander, Apple's director of user privacy and child safety, wrote in the company's response to Heat Initiative. He added, though, that after collaborating with an array of privacy and security researchers, digital rights groups, and child safety advocates, the company concluded that it could not proceed with development of a CSAM-scanning mechanism, even one built specifically to preserve privacy.

“Scanning every user’s privately stored iCloud data would create new threat vectors for data thieves to find and exploit," Neuenschwander wrote. "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.”

Heat Initiative is led by Sarah Gardner, former vice president of external affairs for the nonprofit Thorn, which works to use new technologies to combat child exploitation online and sex trafficking. In 2021, Thorn lauded Apple's plan to develop an iCloud CSAM scanning feature. Gardner said in an email to CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday, August 30, which Apple also shared with WIRED, that Heat Initiative found Apple's decision to kill the feature “disappointing.”

“Apple is one of the most successful companies in the world with an army of world-class engineers,” Gardner wrote in a statement to WIRED. “It is their responsibility to design a safe, privacy-forward environment that allows for the detection of known child sexual abuse images and videos. For as long as people can still share and store a known image of a child being raped in iCloud we will demand that they do better.”

In the email to Cook, Gardner wrote that Apple's photo-scanning tool “not only positioned Apple as a global leader in user privacy but also promised to eradicate millions of child sexual abuse images and videos from iCloud. … Child sexual abuse is a difficult issue that no one wants to talk about, which is why it gets silenced and left behind. We are here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Apple maintains that, ultimately, even its own well-intentioned design could not be adequately safeguarded in practice, and that on-device nudity detections for features like Messages, FaceTime, AirDrop, and the Photo picker are safer alternatives. Apple has also begun offering an application programming interface (API) for its Communication Safety features so third-party developers can incorporate them into their apps. Apple says that the communication platform Discord is integrating the features and that appmakers broadly have been enthusiastic about adopting them.

“We decided to not proceed with the proposal for a hybrid client-server approach to CSAM detection for iCloud Photos from a few years ago,” Neuenschwander wrote to Heat Initiative. “We concluded it was not practically possible to implement without ultimately imperiling the security and privacy of our users.”

TikTok to filter ‘mature or complex’ videos as child safety concerns mount

By  Theo Wayt

TikTok will start blocking underage users from seeing "mature or complex" content.SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

TikTok said it is rolling out a new feature designed to stop underage users from seeing videos with “mature or complex themes” amid mounting scrutiny over the wildly popular video app’s effect on children

The move comes as TikTok faces wrongful death lawsuits filed earlier this month in California by parents who alleged that their eight and nine year-old children died after trying to recreate “blackout challenge” videos that had been served to them through TikTok.

In an effort to protect underage users from “content with overtly mature themes,” TikTok is introducing a ratings metric the company says is similar to systems used in the film, television and video game industries. 

TikTok will start introducing “maturity scores” in the coming weeks, the company said in a blog post.

     TikTok is cracking down on “mature” content.

     TikTok 

“When we detect that a video contains mature or complex themes, for example, fictional scenes that may be too frightening or intense for younger audiences, a maturity score will be allocated to the video to help prevent those under 18 from viewing it across the TikTok experience,” TikTok’s head of trust and safety Cormac Keenan said in a blog post. 

In addition to the maturity score feature, TikTok is introducing another tool for all users that twill allow users to manually block videos with certain words or hashtags from both their “Following” and “For You” feeds. 

For example, vegan users can block videos about dairy or meat recipes, Keenan said. 

Scrutiny of TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, ranges far beyond the “blackout challenge.” 

          An example of TikTok’s new filter tool. 

          TikTok 

American lawmakers have raised concerns about TikTok serving videos glorifying eating disorders and self-harm to children suffering from such conditions. They have also questioned whether TikTok shares data with the Chinese government, a practice the company has denied. 

In addition, consumer protection advocates have raised concerns about the spread of misleading advertisements for sketchy payday loans on TikTok, as exclusively reported by The Post in June. 

Following The Post’s reporting, TikTok banned several of the ads. 

Outdoor Safety Tips: 10 things you can do to Protect Your Kids

From teaching road safety to establishing kid-friendly zones, these tips will help your kids get the most out of outdoor play -- while avoiding anything worse than the usual bumps and bruises.

by Mandy Sleight

Getty

American children spend over three times as many hours in front of screens as they do outdoors. As children get older, their screen time increases on average, too, giving them less time to spend outside. Yet research suggests unstructured, outdoor play leads to higher self-directed executive functioning in children. In fact, being outdoors and playing in nature are essential to a child's overall health and well-being.

But there's a reason many parents are hesitant to send their children out the front door: outdoor play is simply riskier -- at least on an immediate, physical level -- than watching TV. Luckily, a few simple tricks can help lower the risks to children associated with playing outside.

Use the buddy system

Depending on the ages of your children, independent play can be risky without parents around to monitor it. If a child gets hurt, they might not be able to reach help on their own. Having a buddy around while playing can keep both children safer.

Emphasize personal safety

Educate your children on personal safety, especially when riding bikes, skating and playing sports. Teach your children the importance of wearing a helmet and that it's non-negotiable. Elbow and knee pads and other sports-specific gear are helpful protective measures. Instilling the importance of protective gear and helmet-wearing at all times when they're young ensures they'll make safer choices as they gain more independence. 

Have a plan

In case of an emergency, you should already have a home safety plan in place. But do you also have a plan in place for your older kids as they gain more independence? When your children are old enough to leave your yard or venture away from your building, they should know what to do if they're hurt or need help of any other kind.

Talk through potential hazards with them, letting them ask questions along the way. Do they understand where to go, what to do and who to contact if something happens to them, a friend or even a stranger? Is there a plan B if you're not home, or if they can't reach you?

Use smart security as an extra pair of eyes

Chris Monroe/CNET

While many parents develop keen ears for hearing their child's distant cry -- including whether it's playful or genuine -- an extra set of eyes when the kids are outside can't hurt. Having an outdoor home security camera doesn't just protect your home; it can also give you another way to ensure child safety outdoors. Most smart security cameras can be monitored from smartphones, and some even boast smart features, like animal detection, facial recognition and person alerts, which can help give you more detailed notifications while your children play.

Remember road safety

Personal safety isn't the only thing kids should be educated about when they're playing outdoors. Many children are unaware of the surrounding dangers when outdoors until an adult explains it. Children walking and biking should know the rules of the road, including how to obey traffic laws and the correct traffic flow, like riding with the flow of traffic off to the right instead of against it. If your child has to walk a few blocks to get to the basketball court or nearest playground, do a trial run for their first time and help them navigate the roads -- using crosswalks and looking both ways for cars along the way so they know the right path to take.

Set up a kid-friendly zone

If you're lucky enough to have a backyard or other outdoor area for your kids to play, make sure it's kid-friendly by protecting against common hazards. Pools and hot tubs should be securely closed and locked to prevent accidental injuries or worse. Toys and playhouses should be checked for insect nests, snakes and other unwelcome critters (these will differ based on where you live).

Scan the yard for other potential hazards, like dead tree branches or poison ivy that may have creeped in from the neighbor's yard. If you have a trampoline or are planning to get one, know how to level it properly, especially if your yard is sloped.

For those who don't have a yard, it's important to create age-appropriate boundaries before children can safely play outdoors without an adult. There may be a creek nearby you want them to avoid, or a busy intersection they should steer clear of. Walk the boundaries, teaching them where they can and can't go along the way. If your apartment building has rules -- for instance, kids can play in the garden but aren't allowed to open the exterior door -- make sure your kiddos know the rules and can repeat them so you know they understand.

Keep track of the kids

A bit of freedom goes a long way toward unstructured play for your child's physical and mental growth, but you can't be everywhere with them. One solution is an age-appropriate tracker that can show you where they are, even without them checking in. (We recommend using these trackers only with the knowledge of your children.) You can use tracking services built into smartphones and watches, or use a separate device.

Remember medical considerations

Preparing a child with allergies or other medical issues for outdoor fun might take a couple of extra steps before they're ready to head out the door.

Make sure your children have any medication they need readily available, especially for serious allergies like bee stings. For children who need an inhaler, practice with them so they know when and how to administer their medicine on their own. If your child needs medication at a specific time, make sure they have an alarm set to come back home to take their medicine when needed, or have a system in place for them to safely take it while outside.

Even if your children don't have these concerns, that doesn't mean their friends don't. Check with parents of your children's friends to be sure you're not packing snacks that could lead friends to have serious allergic reactions.

Encourage seasonal preparation

David Priest/CNET

Children should stay well hydrated before, during and after outdoor activities -- especially when the weather is hot. Check on them every half hour to make sure they stay hydrated, and more often during hotter months. Know the signs of dehydration and have rehydration solutions like Pedialyte readily available in cases of mild dehydration.

In winter months, children should wear layers of warm, brightly colored clothes appropriate for the temperatures in your area. This way, they can remove or add layers based on temperature fluctuations, especially around dusk and dawn.

In general, asking what the kids plan to do before they leave for an hours-long play session is a good idea, too: if they say they're building a snow fort, you can remind them not to tunnel under heavy snow; if they say they're playing baseball in the street, you can remind them to watch for cars.

Set check-in timers

Kids can easily lose track of time when they're outside having fun. Help them remember to check in regularly by setting an alarm or reminder on their smartphone or tracker. You can also get an inexpensive smart speaker to set outside that will remind them to check in.

Conclusion

Encouraging outdoor play can have a lasting positive effect on your kids. But if you want to avoid any injuries worse than the usual bumps and bruises, following some safety tips can make a big difference. Make indoor and outdoor home security easier with some of these recommendations:

9 devices you should buy to make your home instantly safer

Home security buying guide: Start your security tech hunt here

How to use Alexa commands with your home security camera

Best home security cameras of 2021

SimpliSafe home security review

Ecobee Total Home Comfort and Security Bundle review

Blink outdoor security camera review

Outdoor Safety Tips: 10 things you can do to Protect Your Kids

From teaching road safety to establishing kid-friendly zones, these tips will help your kids get the most out of outdoor play -- while avoiding anything worse than the usual bumps and bruises.

Mandy Sleight

Getty

American children spend over three times as many hours in front of screens as they do outdoors. As children get older, their screen time increases on average, too, giving them less time to spend outside. Yet research suggests unstructured, outdoor play leads to higher self-directed executive functioning in children. In fact, being outdoors and playing in nature are essential to a child's overall health and well-being.

But there's a reason many parents are hesitant to send their children out the front door: outdoor play is simply riskier -- at least on an immediate, physical level -- than watching TV. Luckily, a few simple tricks can help lower the risks to children associated with playing outside.

Use the buddy system

Depending on the ages of your children, independent play can be risky without parents around to monitor it. If a child gets hurt, they might not be able to reach help on their own. Having a buddy around while playing can keep both children safer.

Emphasize personal safety

Educate your children on personal safety, especially when riding bikes, skating and playing sports. Teach your children the importance of wearing a helmet and that it's non-negotiable. Elbow and knee pads and other sports-specific gear are helpful protective measures. Instilling the importance of protective gear and helmet-wearing at all times when they're young ensures they'll make safer choices as they gain more independence. 

Have a plan

In case of an emergency, you should already have a home safety plan in place. But do you also have a plan in place for your older kids as they gain more independence? When your children are old enough to leave your yard or venture away from your building, they should know what to do if they're hurt or need help of any other kind.

Talk through potential hazards with them, letting them ask questions along the way. Do they understand where to go, what to do and who to contact if something happens to them, a friend or even a stranger? Is there a plan B if you're not home, or if they can't reach you?

Use smart security as an extra pair of eyes

Chris Monroe/CNET

While many parents develop keen ears for hearing their child's distant cry -- including whether it's playful or genuine -- an extra set of eyes when the kids are outside can't hurt. Having an outdoor home security camera doesn't just protect your home; it can also give you another way to ensure child safety outdoors. Most smart security cameras can be monitored from smartphones, and some even boast smart features, like animal detection, facial recognition and person alerts, which can help give you more detailed notifications while your children play.

Remember road safety

Personal safety isn't the only thing kids should be educated about when they're playing outdoors. Many children are unaware of the surrounding dangers when outdoors until an adult explains it. Children walking and biking should know the rules of the road, including how to obey traffic laws and the correct traffic flow, like riding with the flow of traffic off to the right instead of against it. If your child has to walk a few blocks to get to the basketball court or nearest playground, do a trial run for their first time and help them navigate the roads -- using crosswalks and looking both ways for cars along the way so they know the right path to take.

Set up a kid-friendly zone

If you're lucky enough to have a backyard or other outdoor area for your kids to play, make sure it's kid-friendly by protecting against common hazards. Pools and hot tubs should be securely closed and locked to prevent accidental injuries or worse. Toys and playhouses should be checked for insect nests, snakes and other unwelcome critters (these will differ based on where you live).

Scan the yard for other potential hazards, like dead tree branches or poison ivy that may have creeped in from the neighbor's yard. If you have a trampoline or are planning to get one, know how to level it properly, especially if your yard is sloped.

For those who don't have a yard, it's important to create age-appropriate boundaries before children can safely play outdoors without an adult. There may be a creek nearby you want them to avoid, or a busy intersection they should steer clear of. Walk the boundaries, teaching them where they can and can't go along the way. If your apartment building has rules -- for instance, kids can play in the garden but aren't allowed to open the exterior door -- make sure your kiddos know the rules and can repeat them so you know they understand.

Keep track of the kids

A bit of freedom goes a long way toward unstructured play for your child's physical and mental growth, but you can't be everywhere with them. One solution is an age-appropriate tracker that can show you where they are, even without them checking in. (We recommend using these trackers only with the knowledge of your children.) You can use tracking services built into smartphones and watches, or use a separate device.

Remember medical considerations

Preparing a child with allergies or other medical issues for outdoor fun might take a couple of extra steps before they're ready to head out the door.

Make sure your children have any medication they need readily available, especially for serious allergies like bee stings. For children who need an inhaler, practice with them so they know when and how to administer their medicine on their own. If your child needs medication at a specific time, make sure they have an alarm set to come back home to take their medicine when needed, or have a system in place for them to safely take it while outside.

Even if your children don't have these concerns, that doesn't mean their friends don't. Check with parents of your children's friends to be sure you're not packing snacks that could lead friends to have serious allergic reactions.

Encourage seasonal preparation

David Priest/CNET

Children should stay well hydrated before, during and after outdoor activities -- especially when the weather is hot. Check on them every half hour to make sure they stay hydrated, and more often during hotter months. Know the signs of dehydration and have rehydration solutions like Pedialyte readily available in cases of mild dehydration.

In winter months, children should wear layers of warm, brightly colored clothes appropriate for the temperatures in your area. This way, they can remove or add layers based on temperature fluctuations, especially around dusk and dawn.

In general, asking what the kids plan to do before they leave for an hours-long play session is a good idea, too: if they say they're building a snow fort, you can remind them not to tunnel under heavy snow; if they say they're playing baseball in the street, you can remind them to watch for cars.

Set check-in timers

Kids can easily lose track of time when they're outside having fun. Help them remember to check in regularly by setting an alarm or reminder on their smartphone or tracker. You can also get an inexpensive smart speaker to set outside that will remind them to check in.

Conclusion

Encouraging outdoor play can have a lasting positive effect on your kids. But if you want to avoid any injuries worse than the usual bumps and bruises, following some safety tips can make a big difference. Make indoor and outdoor home security easier with some of these recommendations:

9 devices you should buy to make your home instantly safer

Home security buying guide: Start your security tech hunt here

How to use Alexa commands with your home security camera

Best home security cameras of 2021

SimpliSafe home security review

Ecobee Total Home Comfort and Security Bundle review

Blink outdoor security camera review

Trinity Mount Ministries - FBI warns predators are targeting children playing video games

Help Find Missing Children. Let's Put An End To Child Abuse And Exploitation...Care.

The FBI warns predators are trying to take advantage of children playing video games.(WOIO)

By Sara Goldenberg

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The FBI is warning predators are targeting children.

Kids and teens spend hours over the summer playing video games, and they still have a few weeks left until back-to-school.

Video games can be a lot of fun, but 19 Investigates found sexual predators can be lurking anonymously behind the keyboard.

FBI New York released a PSA called “It’s Not a Game” urging parents to watch out for their children online.

“As soon as that instant message pops up on your child’s browser or on their smart phone, there could be a sexual predator on the other end. It takes only a few days—sometimes just hours—to groom your child into sending compromising photos to the person on the other end of that chat. Then the threats begin,” the FBI agent said in the video.

You can watch the PSA in full here.

We spoke with a local parent, Mallory Diebel, and her 11-year-old son Slade, who loves to play video games.

“I like that it’s a getaway from real life, where you can basically do whatever you want,” he said. Roblox and Minecraft keep him busy for hours.

His parents try to stay involved in what he’s playing.

“It’s a whole new world from when me and my husband were young and playing Sega and Nintendo,” she said. There has been one big change since then.

Users can message each other now, and that’s where the FBI warns threats can come in.

500,000 predators are active online every day, according to the FBI.

Kids ages 12 to 15 are most at risk.

Diebel wants to give Slade his independence when he’s playing.

But she continues to keep tabs on what he’s playing and who he’s talking to.

“We do check in with him every once and awhile to make sure he’s not giving anything private out about yourself, where we live, your name, if we’re home, not home, different things like that,” she said. She’s noticed many of the video games put in more parental controls and restrictions on chats.

But she still keeps an eye on public servers.

“When you’re talking about strangers and a person you see in front of you, it’s easy to say, they’re kind of giving me a weird feeling. Same thing that happens with online,” she said. So what can you do, besides set parental controls?

Experts say know your child’s ID and password and tell him or her you will randomly check them.

You can keep your child’s computer in an open area of your home.

But the best thing you can do is talk about the dangers together.

That’s something Diebel is already doing with her son.

“It’s just having those little, hard conversations that they may not want to have, but it’s still important to keep that communication open,” she said. We checked with the Cuyahoga County Internet Crimes Against Children task force to see how many cyber tips they’re getting so far this year.

The task force says it has gotten 6,393 cyber tips statewide through July 25.

They’re getting more cyber tips than last year at this time.

10,321 cyber tips came into the task force in 2020, setting a record.

UNICEF highlights child online safety at World Internet Conference

Source: Xinhua

WUZHEN, Zhejiang, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Four sculptures stood in great contrast to the advanced technology on display in Wuzhen Internet International Conference and Exhibition Center; however, they attracted just as much, if not more, attention from visitors.

The "Cyber Cocoon Kids" art installation, presented by UNICEF China at the on-going World Internet Conference, shows the four key online risks for children: cyberbullying, excessive internet use, online child sexual abuse and oversharing personal information.

Artist Xie Yong and creative director Kevin Wang came up with the concept of "Cyber Cocoon Kids" to represent the potential isolation that can occur when children inhabit a cyber world that parents and caregivers do not fully understand.

"Protecting children online is a vital issue in internet governance, and also closely linked to the Sustainable Development Goals," said Fatoumata Ndiaye, UNICEF deputy executive director.

At the conference, UNICEF also co-hosted a Child Online Safety Forum bringing global experts to share learning, experience and practice in this area.

"The internet offers children access to a whole world of possibilities to learn, connect and play," said Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative to China. "As policy makers, digital industry representatives or as parents and caregivers, we need to protect children from the worst that digital technology has to offer and expand their access to the best."

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