Apple delays the rollout of recently announced child safety features, says it will take more time to collect feedback from stakeholders and make improvements
Last month, Apple announced a handful of new child safety features that proved to be controversial, including CSAM detection features for iCloud Photos.
9to5MacChance Miller
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple had defended its photo-scanning proposal in an internal memo that acknowledged concerns but maintained the features were needed to protect children. The delay turns that defense into a consultation process after the iCloud Photos component became controversial.
Related coverage characterizes the launch as having been developed without sufficient expert input while tied to an annual software-release schedule. That makes the pause consequential beyond timing: Apple is revisiting how it introduces safety controls in a privacy-sensitive service.
First-order effects
Apple pauses deployment of its announced child-safety features, including CSAM detection for iCloud Photos, while it gathers stakeholder feedback and makes changes.
If this consultation-first approach persists, consumer-platform safety features that affect private content will face more contestable product governance before deployment.
The larger structural tension is whether a platform can add public-safety enforcement capabilities while preserving user trust in services built around private data.
The trend: Consumer platforms are being pushed to treat safety enforcement in private services as a governance decision requiring external scrutiny, not only an engineering rollout.
Just in from Apple on the CSAM tools. The company is taking “additional time over the coming months to collect input and make improvements before releasing these critically important child safety features.” https://twitter.com/...
My suggestions to Apple: (1) talk to the technical and policy communities before you do whatever you're going to do. Talk to the general public as well. This isn't a fancy new Touchbar: it's a privacy compromise that affects 1bn users. 1/
Breaking: Apple has delayed rolling out its CSAM detection technology in iOS 15, citing feedback from customers, advocacy groups, researchers and others — which has been largely negative since the technology was announced in August. https://techcrunch.com/...
Just in: Apple delaying CSAM system: “Based on feedback from customers, advocacy groups, researchers & others, we have decided to take additional time over the coming months to collect input and make improvements before releasing these critically important child safety features.”
Apple is taking “additional time over the coming months to collect input and make improvements” before releasing their previously announced Child Safety Features. Full statement, full text in ALT: https://twitter.com/...