Technologies

Apple’s plan to scan phones for child abuse worries privacy advocates

The tech giant said its iPhone, iPad and Mac software updates planned for the fall will include a new feature to fight child exploitation.

Apple for years has focused on adding new programs to its phones, all designed to make life easier. Its systems scan emails for new calendar appointments, and its Siri voice assistant suggests to call friends on their birthdays. But Apple’s latest feature is focused on abuse.

The tech giant said in a new section of its website published Thursday that it plans to add scanning software to its iPhones, iPads, Mac computers and Apple Watches when the new iOS 15, iPad OS 15, MacOS Monterey and WatchOS 8 operating systems all launch in the fall. The new program, which Apple said is designed to «limit the spread of child sexual abuse material» is part of a new collaboration between the company and child safety experts.

Apple said it’ll update Siri and search features to provide parents and children with information to help them seek support in «unsafe situations.» The program will also «intervene» when users try to search for child abuse-related topics. Apple will also warn parents and children when they might be sending or receiving a sexually explicit photo using its Messages app, either by hiding the photo behind a warning that it may be «sensitive» or adding an informational pop-up.

But the most dramatic effort, Apple said, is to identify child sexual abuse materials on the devices themselves, with a new technology that’ll detect these images in Apple’s photos app with the help of databases provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Apple said the system is automated and is «designed with user privacy in mind,» with the system performing scans on the device before images are backed up to iCloud. If the program is convinced it’s identified abusive imagery, it can share those photos with representatives from Apple, who’ll act from there. The Financial Times earlier reported Apple’s plans.

While some industry watchers applauded Apple’s efforts to take on child exploitation, they also worried that the tech giant might be creating a system that could be abused by totalitarian regimes. Other technology certainly has been abused, most recently software from Israeli firm NSO Group, which makes government surveillance tech. Its Pegasus spyware, touted as a tool to fight criminals and terrorists, was reportedly used to aim hacks at 50,000 phone numbers connected to activists, government leaders, journalists, lawyers and teachers around the globe.

«Even if you believe Apple won’t allow these tools to be misused there’s still a lot to be concerned about,» tweeted Matthew Green, a professor at Johns Hopkins University who’s worked on cryptographic technologies.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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To be sure, other tech companies have been scanning photos for years. Facebook and Twitter both have worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and other organizations to root out child sexual abuse imagery on their social networks. Microsoft and Google, meanwhile, use similar technology to identify these photos in emails and search results.

What’s different with Apple, critics say, is that it’s scanning images on the device, rather than after they’ve been uploaded to the internet.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, Oct. 14

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 14.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword has an odd vertical shape, with an extra Across clue, and only four Down clues. The clues are not terribly difficult, but one or two could be tricky. Read on if you need the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Smokes, informally
Answer: CIGS

5A clue: «Don’t have ___, man!» (Bart Simpson catchphrase)
Answer: ACOW

6A clue: What the vehicle in «lane one» of this crossword is winning?
Answer: RACE

7A clue: Pitt of Hollywood
Answer: BRAD

8A clue: «Yeah, whatever»
Answer: SURE

9A clue: Rd. crossers
Answer: STS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Things to «load» before a marathon
Answer: CARBS

2D clue: Mythical figure who inspired the idiom «fly too close to the sun»
Answer: ICARUS

3D clue: Zoomer around a small track
Answer: GOCART

4D clue: Neighbors of Norwegians
Answer: SWEDES

Technologies

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Technologies

New California Law Wants Companion Chatbots to Tell Kids to Take Breaks

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the new requirements on AI companions into law on Monday.

AI companion chatbots will have to remind users in California that they’re not human under a new law signed Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The law, SB 243, also requires companion chatbot companies to maintain protocols for identifying and addressing cases in which users express suicidal ideation or self-harm. For users under 18, chatbots will have to provide a notification at least every three hours that reminds users to take a break and that the bot is not human.

It’s one of several bills Newsom has signed in recent weeks dealing with social media, artificial intelligence and other consumer technology issues. Another bill signed Monday, AB 56, requires warning labels on social media platforms, similar to those required for tobacco products. Last week, Newsom signed measures requiring internet browsers to make it easy for people to tell websites they don’t want them to sell their data and banning loud advertisements on streaming platforms.

AI companion chatbots have drawn particular scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators in recent months. The Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into several companies in response to complaints by consumer groups and parents that the bots were harming children’s mental health. OpenAI introduced new parental controls and other guardrails in its popular ChatGPT platform after the company was sued by parents who allege ChatGPT contributed to their teen son’s suicide.

«We’ve seen some truly horrific and tragic examples of young people harmed by unregulated tech, and we won’t stand by while companies continue without necessary limits and accountability,» Newsom said in a statement.

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One AI companion developer, Replika, told CNET that it already has protocols to detect self-harm as required by the new law, and that it is working with regulators and others to comply with requirements and protect consumers.

«As one of the pioneers in AI companionship, we recognize our profound responsibility to lead on safety,» Replika’s Minju Song said in an emailed statement. Song said Replika uses content-filtering systems, community guidelines and safety systems that refer users to crisis resources when needed.

A Character.ai spokesperson said the company «welcomes working with regulators and lawmakers as they develop regulations and legislation for this emerging space, and will comply with laws, including SB 243.» OpenAI spokesperson Jamie Radice called the bill a «meaningful move forward» for AI safety. «By setting clear guardrails, California is helping shape a more responsible approach to AI development and deployment across the country,» Radice said in an email.

One bill Newsom has yet to sign, AB 1064, would go further by prohibiting developers from making companion chatbots available to children unless the AI companion is «not foreseeably capable of» encouraging harmful activities or engaging in sexually explicit interactions, among other things.