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An Apple tool that scans iPhones for child sex abuse images could come to the UK.NeuralMatch analyses users' images that are stored on its iCloud backup system.  
It compares them with a database of known child sex abuse material (CSAM) and alerts the authorities if matches are found.The tech giant yesterday said it hoped to ‘expand' the feature, due out in the US this autumn, to other countries. The UK's Internet Watch Foundation, which works to eliminate child sexual abuse online, said it would welcome to bloxburg roblox the software, which puts ‘child safety at the forefront of new technology'.  An Apple tool that scans iPhones for child sex abuse images could come to the UK (stock image) But Jim Killock, of the UK's Open Rights Group, said it could ‘sooner or later' open a back door for mass government surveillance of individuals.Apple rejected the claim, saying: ‘Let us be clear, this technology is limited to detecting CSAM stored in iCloud and we will not accede to any government's request to expand it.' RELATED ARTICLES   
  
  
  
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It added: ‘We have faced demands to build and deploy government-mandated changes that degrade the privacy of users before, and have steadfastly refused those demands. We will continue to refuse them in the future'Susie Hargreaves, chief executive of the IWF, said: ‘This is a great example of a technology company doing the right thing and creating equivalency. NeuralMatch analyses users' images that are stored on its iCloud backup system.  
  
It compares them with a database of known child sex abuse material (CSAM) and alerts the authorities if matches are found (stock image)‘They have acknowledged that, while customers' privacy must be respected and protected, it cannot be at the expense of children's safety.‘This system is a promising step in making the internet a safer place for everyone.'Apple is introducing two features on US iPhones designed to protect children.One blurs sexually explicit images received by children in the Messages app and can notify a parent if a child aged under-13 decides to view it.  
  
The second is NeuralMatch.That system has been trained on 200,000 sex abuse images collected by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.If a certain number of images are marked suspect, Apple will pass the information onto the authorities.  Apple defends plan to scan iPhones for child sexual abuse images saying its algorithm can only identify flagged photos and the likelihood of a false positive 'is less than one in one trillion per year'by DAN AVERY for DailyMail.com Apple is pushing back  over its plan to scan photos on users iPhones and in iCloud storage in search of child sexual abuse images. In a  focusing on its 'Expanded Protections for Children,' Apple insisted its system couldn't be exploited to seek out images related to anything other than child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The system will not scan photo albums, Apple says, but rather looks for matches based on a database of 'hashes' - a type of digital fingerprint - of known CSAM images provided by child safety organizations. While privacy advocacies worry about 'false positives, Apple boasted that 'the likelihood that the system would incorrectly flag any given account is less than one in one trillion per year.' Apple also claims it would 'refuse any such demands' from government agencies, in the US or abroad.  The Cupertino-based corporation announced the new system last Thursday that uses algorithms and artificial intelligence to scan images for matches to known abuse material provided by the National Center For Missing & Exploited Children, a leading clearinghouse for the prevention of and recovery from child victimization.Child advocacy groups praised the move, but privacy advocates like Greg Nojeim of the Center for Democracy and Technology say Apple 'is replacing its industry-standard end-to-end encrypted messaging system with an infrastructure for surveillance and censorship.'  Apple will use 'hashes,' or  digital fingerprints from a CSAM database, to scan photos on a user's iPhone using a machine-learning algorithm.  
  
Any match is sent to Apple for human review and then sent to America's National Center for Missing and Exploited ChildrenOther tech companies, including Microsoft, Google and Facebook, have shared what 'hash lists' of known images of child sexual abuse.'CSAM detection for iCloud Photos is built so that the system only works with CSAM image hashes provided by NCMEC and other child safety organizations, reads the new FAQs. 'This set of image hashes is based on images acquired and validated to be CSAM by child safety organizations.'  Apple says a human review process will act as a backstop against government abuse, and that it will not automatically pass reports from its photo-checking system to law enforcement if the review finds no objectionable photos. A new tool coming with iOS 15 will allow Apple to scan images loaded to the cloud for pictures previously flagged as presenting child sexual abuse.  
  
Critics warn the system opens a giant 'back door' to spying on users 

Apple distributed this internal memo this morning, dismissing their critics as "the screeching voices of the minority."  
 
I will never stop screeching about the importa

'We have faced demands to build and deploy government-mandated changes that degrade the privacy of users before, and have steadfastly refused those demands,' the company wrote.  
  
'We will continue to refuse them in the future.'Apple has previously altered its practices to suit various nations before: In China, one of its biggest markets, it abandoned the encryption technology it uses elsewhere after China prohibited it, according to .While the measures are initially only being rolled out in the US, Apple plans for the technology to soon be available worldwide. The technology will allow Apple to:Flag images to the authorities after being manually checked by staff if they match child sexual abuse images compiled by the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)Apple will scan images that are sent and received in the Messages app.  
  
If nudity is detected, the photo will be automatically blurred and the child will be warned that the photo might contain private body parts Siri will 'intervene' when users try to search topics related to child sexual abuse;If a child under the age of 13 sends or receives a suspicious image 'parents will get a notification' if the child's device is linked to Family SharingOn Friday Eva Galperin, cybersecurity director for the digital civil-rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), tweeted a screenshot of an email to Apple staffers from Marita Rodriguez, NCMEC executive director for strategic partnerships, thanking them 'for finding a path forward for child protection while preserving privacy.' <div class="art-ins mol-factbox floatRHS sciencetech" data-version="2" id="mol-21ba12d0-f973-11eb-926b-873a5dd874d6" website Apple may scan photos on UK iPhones too