Apple announced plans to introduce a child safety feature that would scan the iCloud for illegal content aimed at fighting the war against child exploitation. Despite Apple stating that “Apple’s method of detecting known CSAM [Child Sexual Abuse Material] is designed with user privacy in mind,” protests erupted, with some led by Electronic Frontier Foundation’s (EFF) privacy advocates. Such advocates demanded that Apple drop the planned iPhone “surveillance software program, which will endanger the privacy and security of its customers and open a backdoor to increased surveillance around the world.” According to the EFF, “Protests at Apple Stores, organized by EFF, FFTF, and OpenMedia, are planned in Boston, Portland, Atlanta, and other cities. A map of the locations can be found at https://www.nospyphone.com/#map.”
To privacy advocates’ delight, Apple listened to the criticisms and announced the delay of the photo scanning feature. Even though this is, what EFF claims to be, a push in the right direction, the EFF is advocating for the complete abandonment of the program – in its entirety.
Here’s Apple’s spokesperson’s statement, according to Forbes: “‘Last month we announced plans for features intended to help protect children from predators who use communication tools to recruit and exploit them, and limit the spread of Child Sexual Abuse Material. Based on feedback from customers, advocacy groups, researchers and 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.'” Further, below is a screenshot, as of September 19, 2021, of Apple’s official statement on their website: https://www.apple.com/child-safety/
It appears like the good-natured intentions of Apple, to scan photos to catch those who are exploiting children, backfired. You could also think of these “good intentions” as the rationale commonly called “Think of the Children“. Specifically, in Art, Argument, and Advocacy: Mastering Parliamentary Debate, by John Meany and Kate Shuster, the phrase “think of the children” can be understood as a logical fallacy and an appeal to emotion. You can see this type of argument throughout time; clinging onto the ideology that children are innately innocent, with a need to be protected and saved, at all costs – This essentially is intended to pull on the listeners’ emotional heartstrings. Not only that but if you were one of those who pushed back, you were seen as cruel and lacked a heart. Nowadays, it seems like we have more savvy privacy advocates, where the audience is seeing through this argumentative fallacy; hence, the backlash Apple received when announcing this photo scanning feature. (To learn more, see Wikipedia’s “Think of the children“)
If you recall, back in March of 2019, Apple introduced a wide marketing campaign to combine the thoughts of privacy and security, synonymously with the iPhone. Considering this, the photo scanning feature seems to be at odds with this campaign. That said, Apple, did, indeed, listen to the backlash, as the feature is currently postponed. When taking a step back, and witnessing the uproar of the public, we’re seeing a shift in the value of privacy and a growing value of device autonomy. “Privacy” is no longer a token phrase to slap onto an advertisement, rather, privacy involves a promise with the notions of autonomy and independence from censorship and surveillance. Overall, it’s unclear if and when Apple will release this photo scanning feature.
Attack of the Killer App 