Technologies

Apple, iPhones, photos and child safety: What’s happening and should you be concerned?

The tech giant’s built new systems to fight child exploitation and abuse, but security advocates worry it could erode our privacy. Here’s why.

Apple’s long presented itself as a bastion of security, and as one of the only tech companies that truly cares about user privacy. But a new technology designed to help an iPhone, iPad or Mac computer detect child exploitation images and videos stored on those devices has ignited a fierce debate about the truth behind Apple’s promises.

On Aug. 5, Apple announced a new feature being built into the upcoming iOS 15, iPad OS 15, WatchOS 8 and MacOS Monterey software updates designed to detect if someone has child exploitation images or videos stored on their device. It’ll do this by converting images into unique bits of code, known as hashes, based on what they depict. The hashes are then checked against a database of known child exploitation content that’s managed by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. If a certain number of matches are found, Apple is then alerted and may further investigate.

Apple said it developed this system to protect people’s privacy, performing scans on the phone and only raising alarms if a certain number of matches are found. But privacy experts, who agree that fighting child exploitation is a good thing, worry that Apple’s moves open the door to wider uses that could, for example, put political dissidents and other innocent people in harm’s way.

«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.

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Apple’s new feature, and the concern that’s sprung up around it, represent an important debate about the company’s commitment to privacy. Apple has long promised that its devices and software are designed to protect their users’ privacy. The company even dramatized that with an ad it hung just outside the convention hall of the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show, which said «What happens on your iPhone stays on your iPhone.»

«We at Apple believe privacy is a fundamental human right,» Apple CEO Tim Cook has often said.

Apple’s scanning technology is part of a trio of new features the company’s planning for this fall. Apple also is enabling its Siri voice assistant to offer links and resources to people it believes may be in a serious situation, such as a child in danger. Advocates had been asking for that type of feature for a while.

It also is adding a feature to its messages app to proactively protect children from explicit content, whether it’s in a green-bubble SMS conversation or blue-bubble iMessage encrypted chat. This new capability is specifically designed for devices registered under a child’s iCloud account and will warn if it detects an explicit image being sent or received. Like with Siri, the app will also offer links and resources if needed.

There’s a lot of nuance involved here, which is part of why Apple took the unusual step of releasing research papers, frequently asked questions and other information ahead of the planned launch.

Here’s everything you should know:

Why is Apple doing this now?

The tech giant said it’s been trying to find a way to help stop child exploitation for a while. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received more than 65 million reports of material last year. Apple said that’s way up from the 401 reports 20 years ago.

«We also know that the 65 million files that were reported is only a small fraction of what is in circulation,» said Julie Cordua, head of Thorn, a nonprofit fighting child exploitation that supports Apple’s efforts. She added that US law requires tech companies to report exploitative material if they find it, but it does not compel them to search for it.

Other companies do actively search for such photos and videos. Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and Google (and its YouTube subsidiary) all use various technologies to scan their systems for any potentially illegal uploads.

What makes Apple’s system unique is that it’s designed to scan our devices, rather than the information stored on the company’s servers.

The hash scanning system will only be applied to photos stored in iCloud Photo Library, which is a photo syncing system built into Apple devices. It won’t hash images and videos stored in the photos app of a phone, tablet or computer that isn’t using iCloud Photo Library. So, in a way, people can opt out if they choose not to use Apple’s iCloud photo syncing services.

Could this system be abused?

The question at hand isn’t whether Apple should do what it can to fight child exploitation. It’s whether Apple should use this method.

The slippery slope concern privacy experts have raised is whether Apple’s tools could be twisted into surveillance technology against dissidents. Imagine if the Chinese government were able to somehow secretly add data corresponding to the famously suppressed Tank Man photo from the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square to Apple’s child exploitation content system.

Apple said it designed features to keep that from happening. The system doesn’t scan photos, for example — it checks for matches between hash codes. The hash database is also stored on the phone, not a database sitting on the internet. Apple also noted that because the scans happen on the device, security researchers can audit the way it works more easily.

Is Apple rummaging through my photos?

We’ve all seen some version of it: The baby in the bathtub photo. My parents had some of me, I have some of my kids, and it was even a running gag on the 2017 Dreamworks animated comedy The Boss Baby.

Apple says those images shouldn’t trip up its system. Because Apple’s system converts our photos to these hash codes, and then checks them against a known database of child exploitation videos and photos, the company isn’t actually scanning our stuff. The company said the likelihood of a false positive is less than one in 1 trillion per year.

«In addition, any time an account is flagged by the system, Apple conducts human review before making a report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,» Apple wrote on its site. «As a result, system errors or attacks will not result in innocent people being reported to NCMEC.»

Is Apple reading my texts?

Apple isn’t applying its hashing technology to our text messages. That, effectively, is a separate system. Instead, with text messages, Apple is only alerting a user who’s marked as a child in their iCloud account about when they’re about to send or receive an explicit image. The child can still view the image, and if they do a parent will be alerted.

«The feature is designed so that Apple does not get access to the messages,» Apple said.

What does Apple say?

Apple maintains that its system is built with privacy in mind, with safeguards to keep Apple from knowing the contents of our photo libraries and to minimize the risk of misuse.

«At Apple, our goal is to create technology that empowers people and enriches their lives — while helping them stay safe,» Apple said in a statement. «We want to protect children from predators who use communication tools to recruit and exploit them, and limit the spread of Child Sexual Abuse Material.»

Technologies

2025 Income Tax Returns Are Due Next Week. Get All the Details on Tax Deadlines

Most US taxpayers will need to complete their income tax returns by April 15 or file a free tax extension for additional time.

If you’ve been dreading the task of completing and filing your 2025 income taxes, you’re not alone. The IRS says that 20% to 25% of US taxpayers wait until the final two weeks of the tax season to submit their income tax returns, according to TurboTax.

Don’t let your procrastination proceed any further — it’s time to gather all the essential tax documentation and information you need to finish your 2025 tax return and submit it to the IRS.

What’s the final deadline to complete and submit your 2025 tax return? Read on to find all of the deadlines and scheduling information you need for US federal income taxes in 2026.

When can I file my 2025 tax return?

The IRS started accepting 2025 tax returns on Jan. 26. For those expecting tax refunds, it usually makes sense to file your taxes as early as possible.

You can file your 2025 federal tax return today with CNET’s best tax software. If you’re expecting money back from the IRS this year, you should expect to receive your tax refund two to three weeks after your return is accepted.

What’s the deadline for filing my 2025 tax return with the IRS?

The final date for completing and submitting your 2025 tax return to the IRS is April 15, the traditional deadline for federal income taxes in the US. Tax returns filed after April 15 may be subject to both fines and penalties if you owe the government money.

There are no local or state holidays that interfere with the tax deadline in 2026, so taxpayers in all 50 states and Washington, DC, should be prepared to finish and submit their 2025 tax return or file a tax extension by April 15.

What’s the deadline to file for a tax extension in 2026?

If you want to extend your deadline for filing your 2025 tax return by six months, you’ll need to file a tax extension by the same deadline — April 15. To do so, you’ll need to complete and submit IRS Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File US Individual Income Tax Return.

Any US taxpayer can file an extension to push back their federal income tax deadline to Oct. 15, but if you owe the IRS money, you’ll need to pay an estimated amount due by April 15. If you pay less than 90% of what you ultimately owe in federal taxes, you could be subject to fines and penalties.

US states with exceptions to the April 15 tax-filing deadline

Eight states — Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming — don’t levy any income taxes on residents, and Washington taxes only capital gains for high-income taxpayers. Residents in those states generally won’t need to file state income taxes.

The majority of the other 41 states and DC have state and local tax filing deadlines that match the federal April 15 deadline, but five of them buck that trend with their own unique dates for filing state taxes.

Delaware: April 30
Hawaii: April 20
Iowa: April 30
Louisiana: May 15
Virginia: May 1

Even though those states have later state income tax deadlines, federal 2025 tax returns are still due to the IRS by April 15.

Because of natural disasters, two locales in the US have received automatic extensions for filing 2025 federal income tax returns. Taxpayers in the state of Washington who were affected by storms, flooding or mudslides that began on Dec. 9, 2025, have until May 1 to file federal income taxes. And Alaskan taxpayers in Lower Kuskokwim Regional Educational Attendance Area, Lower Yukon Regional Educational Attendance Area and Northwest Arctic Borough who were affected by the Typhoon Halong that started Oct. 8, 2025, also have a May 1 deadline for federal taxes.

US taxpayers who live permanently outside of the country and certain members of the military serving overseas automatically receive a two-month extension. Eligible taxpayers for the two-month tax extension are:

Expatriates living outside of the US and Puerto Rico whose main business is also outside the country
People enlisted in military or naval service outside the US and Puerto Rico

For taxes due, the overseas extension follows the same rules as the standard six-month extension. If a taxpayer owes the IRS money, they’ll need to pay 90% of what they owe by April 15 or risk fines and penalties.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for April 7 #765

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for April 7, No. 765.

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

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle has some tricky clues to find. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Taking the helm

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Out on the sea

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

ROUT, POINT, PAWS, SHUT, GOUT, HOOK, NOOK, MOON, SHIN, RING, THIS, MOOT

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

MARK, KNOT, COURSE, FATHOM, BEARING, WAYPOINT

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is SMOOTHSAILING. To find it, look for the S that’s three letters to the right, and the second letter down. Then, form a sailboat!

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 7, #1031

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for April 7, No. 1031.

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

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough. I was pretty proud that I figured out the purple category right away. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: You vs. me.

Green group hint: I’m all for that!

Blue group hint: Pick an option.

Purple group hint: Not death, but…