Apple debut plan to detect images of child sexual abuse
05 August 2021
Apple announced new iPhone features Thursday that it said would enable the detection and reporting of illegal images of child sexual abuse while preserving users' privacy.
Driving the news: One new system will use cryptographic hashes to identify illegal images that users are uploading to Apple's iCloud without Apple directly snooping in users' troves of photos, which can be encrypted.
- If Apple's system flags enough such images in any one account, it will have human moderators review the case for possible referral to law enforcement.
- Apple says it's confident its system's error rate is one in a trillion.
Another feature will flag sexually explicit photos sent via Apple's Messages service by or to users with family accounts. This system uses on-device machine learning to warn users of potentially problematic content.
Details: The features will begin rolling out for testing in the U.S. immediately and will arrive in final form as part of an update to iOS 15.
What they're saying: An Apple spokesperson at a background press briefing emphasized that the iCloud screening feature is similar to steps many cloud providers already take to comply with the law, but takes additional measures to preserve users' privacy.
The Financial Times first reported the news, along with questions from security researchers concerned that Apple's systems might become vehicles for broader surveillance.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.