A few days ago, Reuters reported that the Cupertino tech giant Apple abandoned its previous plan of releasing a version of iCloud. The move was allegedly because of the pressure from the FBI and the US government, which said that it would hinder investigations. But, it does not end there, a new law proposed by a US Senator might threaten Apple's end to end encryption and might leave the company exposed.
Proposed Bill To Fight Online Child Abuse
There's a new bipartisan bill titled 'Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act of 2019" or EARN IT headed by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. The bill does not explicitly mention about end to end encryption; however, the methods that the senator suggests could ban all forms of end to end encryption. What is the bill about?
The bill states that it hopes to develop recommended practices on the prevention of online exploitation. The act would create a National Commission on Online Child Exploitation Prevention, consists of 15 people, including the US Attorney General. The most remarkable part of the bill is that it proposes of enforcing age limits for online material, as well as a rating system to classify images in terms of severity.
Unfortunately, the requirements of the bill could not be complied if end to end encryption is used. In other words, companies like Facebook and WhatsApp would be required to disclose user details to law enforcement. It also mentions that part of best practices would include cooperating with industry participants and law enforcement to 'remove from view, and report material relating to child exploitation or child sexual abuse.' Additionally, the bill proposes that there would be changes to the Communications Decency Act of 1934.
At present, the Communications Decency Act of 1934 protects online services from lawsuits on this kind of material.
Apple Fighting Child Abuse
During this year's CES tech show, Apple Chief Privacy Officer Jane Horvath shared that Apple is using some technologies to help monitor sexual child abuse material. While the CPO did not share the details of how Apple does it, she disclosed that the company automatically screens images on its iCloud storage service. On its official site, Apple says that it is committed to protecting children throughout its ecosystem.
It continues that every time its products are used, Apple continues to support innovation. The site also mentions that it uses image-matching technology to assist in finding and reporting child exploitation. Apple's systems utilize electronic signatures to locate suspected child exploitation. Moreover, it states that accounts found with child exploitation content and materials are automatically disabled.
