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Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is launching new features in its Messages app, iOS, iPadOS, and macOS to help law enforcement fight child sexual abuse.

According to Apple, the new child safety features will expand protections for children "against predators who use communication tools to recruit and exploit them and limit the spread of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), which depicts sexually explicit activities involving a child.

Apple to report images of sexual abuse stored in iCloud to law enforcement

Apple said one of the new features involves using a detection technology in iOS and iPadOS. The technology will report detected CSAM images stored in iCloud Photos to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which is working with law enforcement agencies across the United States.

The tech giant's CSAM detection technology uses a process called hashing to maintain user privacy. Hashing is a process any content or material is converted into unique numbers also called hashes.

NMEC and other child safety organizations provided Apple with a database of CSAM image hashes. The tech giant does not scan images. It performs on-device matching using the CSAM image hashes database, which is further transformed into an unreadable set of hashes securely stored in user's devices.

Apple's matching process is powered by a cryptographic technology called private set intersection. The technology determines if an image matches a CSAM hash without revealing the result. Instead, it creates a cryptographic safety voucher that encodes the match result together with additional encrypted data about the image. The voucher and the image are uploaded to iCloud Photos.

The tech giant also uses another technology called threshold secret sharing to ensure that it cannot interpret the contents of a safety voucher unless an iCloud Photos account reaches a threshold of CSAM content. If that happens, the cryptographic technology will allow the tech giant to review the contents of a safety voucher associated with matching CSAM images, disables the users' account, and report it to NMEC or law enforcement. Users can file an appeal if they believe their accounts have been disabled by mistake.

Children and parents will receive warnings when sending or receiving sexually explicit photos

Apple said its Messages app will have a new feature that will warn children and parents when sending or receiving sexually explicit photos.

The tech giant will blur sexually explicit content, warn the child receiving it, and will provide helpful resources. It will also assure the child that it is okay to ignore the content. It will also tell the child that their parents will get a message when he/she views the photo to ensure his/her safety.

Apple will issue similar protections when a child tries to send sexually explicit photos.

The tech giant developed the new features in partnership with child safety experts. It will be available later this year as an update to accounts set up as families in iCloud for iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey.

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