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in "Photos" app, in the bottom right corner there is a "search" icon. When I click it, and entering "beach", I can see photos I've made on the beach (or in the

in "Photos" app, in the bottom right corner there is a "search" icon. When I click it, and entering "beach", I can see photos I've made on the beach (or in the sea, near the beach). What does it mean? My (and your) photos are scanned and analyzed. I've heard literally zero noise about this feature - nobody was complaining (at least not loud enough to let me notice it). So, why the hell all of that fuzz is being raised now? You're (and mine) photos will be scanned and analyzed AGAIN. Not by humans, by algorithms. In some really rare cases they might be checked by humans, but you 100% will not have troubles with the law if photos don't contain CSAM. I have 2 kids and I’m not buying that argument “oh my library of naked photos of my child - I’m in danger”. If you are uploading naked photos of your child to iCloud - it's similar to publishing them. Everything that is uploaded to the Internet, will belong to the Internet, and you don't have so much control of it. If, for some awkward reason, you have sets of naked photos of your child and you want to save them - never ever send them to the Internet. If you think that not-so-experienced users should not know about this rule - I’m pretty sure they don't even know (or care) about this “scandal”. All of that FUD wave is raised by the journalists and echoes on forums like this one.

shapefrog 5y ago
It turns out people liked it when their phone scanned their photos for 'selfie' or 'beach' for them. Apparently tagging 'child porn' on your photos for searching isnt the killer feature someone thought it might be.
- EugeneOZ 5y ago
  Yeah :) Also, it's funny that Apple here goes for bigger risks: reputation, trust, all of that noise, then risks of false accusations. And for what? To help with stopping the pedophile networks. “But no, wait, they want to use algorithms to scan my photos, it’s a privacy violation...” Just wake up.
  - shapefrog 5y ago
    They can have a full resolution copy of my photo, all 12 million pixels, along with the exact time, location and direction I was facing when I took it... but I draw the line firmly at a hash of it being taken.
- shuckles 5y ago
  So what you’re saying is if Apple had a 5 year plan to help China disappear minorities, they should’ve just kept improving photos search? Maybe this child safety effort isn’t aimed at satisfying some authoritarian wet dream after all!
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - shapefrog 5y ago
    Given that they classified a photo I took at a pool as 'beach', they have an awfully long way to go. If their disappearing algorithm doesnt improve they will be disappearing chinese majorities instead of minorities.
- robertoandred 5y ago
  Your photos aren’t being tagged as child porn.
  - shapefrog 5y ago
    * unless they contain child porn
kevinpet 5y ago
What are those cases where they might be checked by humans? To determine whether it's an innocent baby bath? If you have naked photos of a partner which happen to hit a statistical match for certain patterns that are similar to CSAM? These aren't far fetched scenarios, these are exactly the most likely types of photos that would be likely flagged. Are you okay with those photos being passed around Apple's security review team for entertainment? Leaked to the press if you later run for office? How about in 15 years when your small children aren't small? Is this the magical software that can tell the difference between 18 year old boobs and 17 year old? The danger isn't to child molesters, it's to people who get incorrectly flagged as child molesters and need to fight to prove their innocence.
- EugeneOZ 5y ago
  I’m not even sure if it's a joke or you are serious. It is a check against existing hashes in a big database of confirmed CSAM. What are the chances that photos of your partner are in that database? If your partner is older than 12 - it's 0%. Who is taking more risk to be sued for the leakage of the photos, you or Apple? The last part doesn't worth to be discussed because children in that DB are younger than 12.
  - kevinpet 5y ago
    I've now read up on NeuralHash a bit more, and while I think the idea that this is just a hash is slightly overstated, you're right and my above comment assumed this was a classifier rather than a perceptual hash.
- robertoandred 5y ago
  It is very far fetched. The system matches copies of specific photos, not subject matter like “baby taking a bath”.

shapefrog 5y ago

It turns out people liked it when their phone scanned their photos for 'selfie' or 'beach' for them. Apparently tagging 'child porn' on your photos for searching isnt the killer feature someone thought it might be.

EugeneOZ 5y ago
Yeah :) Also, it's funny that Apple here goes for bigger risks: reputation, trust, all of that noise, then risks of false accusations. And for what? To help with stopping the pedophile networks. “But no, wait, they want to use algorithms to scan my photos, it’s a privacy violation...” Just wake up.
- shapefrog 5y ago
  They can have a full resolution copy of my photo, all 12 million pixels, along with the exact time, location and direction I was facing when I took it... but I draw the line firmly at a hash of it being taken.
shuckles 5y ago
So what you’re saying is if Apple had a 5 year plan to help China disappear minorities, they should’ve just kept improving photos search? Maybe this child safety effort isn’t aimed at satisfying some authoritarian wet dream after all!
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- shapefrog 5y ago
  Given that they classified a photo I took at a pool as 'beach', they have an awfully long way to go. If their disappearing algorithm doesnt improve they will be disappearing chinese majorities instead of minorities.
robertoandred 5y ago
Your photos aren’t being tagged as child porn.
- shapefrog 5y ago
  * unless they contain child porn

kevinpet 5y ago

What are those cases where they might be checked by humans? To determine whether it's an innocent baby bath? If you have naked photos of a partner which happen to hit a statistical match for certain patterns that are similar to CSAM? These aren't far fetched scenarios, these are exactly the most likely types of photos that would be likely flagged. Are you okay with those photos being passed around Apple's security review team for entertainment? Leaked to the press if you later run for office? How about in 15 years when your small children aren't small? Is this the magical software that can tell the difference between 18 year old boobs and 17 year old? The danger isn't to child molesters, it's to people who get incorrectly flagged as child molesters and need to fight to prove their innocence.

EugeneOZ 5y ago
I’m not even sure if it's a joke or you are serious. It is a check against existing hashes in a big database of confirmed CSAM. What are the chances that photos of your partner are in that database? If your partner is older than 12 - it's 0%. Who is taking more risk to be sued for the leakage of the photos, you or Apple? The last part doesn't worth to be discussed because children in that DB are younger than 12.
- kevinpet 5y ago
  I've now read up on NeuralHash a bit more, and while I think the idea that this is just a hash is slightly overstated, you're right and my above comment assumed this was a classifier rather than a perceptual hash.
robertoandred 5y ago
It is very far fetched. The system matches copies of specific photos, not subject matter like “baby taking a bath”.