Apple dumps ill-conceived plan to scan users’ iCloud photos in renewed privacy push

Apple is said to have dumped its ill-conceieved plan to scan users’ photos stored in iCloud for child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, amid a renewed privacy push.

Bradford Betz for Fox Business:

These safety tools, announced in August 2021, were meant to flag illicit content while preserving privacy. But the plans drew widespread criticism from digital rights groups who argued that the surveillance capabilities were ripe for potential abuse.
Apple put the plans on pause a month later. Now, more than a year after its announcement, the company has no plans to move forward with the CSAM-detection tool…
Apple says the best way to prevent online exploitation of children is to interrupt it before it happens. The company pointed to new features it rolled out in December 2021 that enabled this process.
The company announced Wednesday it will now offer full end-to-end encryption for nearly all the data its users store in its global cloud-based storage system, making it more difficult for hackers, spies and law enforcement agencies to access sensitive user information.

MacDailyNews Take: if true, Apple is to be commended for waking up, dumping its disastrous scheme to scan users’ photos without their permission (to which we were vehemently opposed from day one), and for finally enabling end-to-end encryption to iCloud Backup, Photos, Notes, and more!
See also:
• Apple will scan Photos and Messages for Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM) – August 5, 2021
• If Apple no longer protects user privacy, why buy an iPhone or an iPad? – August 19, 2021
• Apple brings end-to-end encryption to iCloud Backup, Photos, Notes, and more – December 7, 2022
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