WhatsApp hits out at Apple over iPhone child safety feature, says it is open to abuse

Apple said that iPhones and iPads will soon start detecting images containing child sexual abuse and reporting them as they are uploaded to the iCloud. The software tweak to Apple's operating systems will monitor pictures, allowing Apple to report findings to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to a statement by the Silicon Valley-based tech giant. — AFP

Tech major Apple has announced that it will be rolling out a feature that would police photos on users' iPhones in an effort to detect and stop child abuse imagery from being circulated. Apple has said that its system would screen photos for child abuse images and that this would happen before users upload them from their iPhones in the US to its iCloud storage.

While it has received praise from various child-protection organisations, Apple has been slammed by others who see some sinister consequences of looking into users' mobile phones. They fear it would provide governments, and malicious actors, a chance to misuse the system. It all begs the question — will other tech majors be interested in doing something similar?

Messenger app WhatsApp, which is facing pressure from many governments to decrypt and reveal users' data has reacted with fury. The move has specifically been targeted by WhatsApp Head Will Cathcart. He is among many others who say any attempt by this Apple photo check feature on iPhones to look into images could lead to governments asking for a similar feature to check terrorism and much more.