Apple’s iPhones Will Include New Tools to Flag Child Sexual Abuse

The changes, for later this year, raised concerns that the company is installing surveillance technology that governments could exploit.

Apple on Thursday unveiled changes to iPhones designed to catch cases of child sexual abuse, a move that is likely to please parents and the police but that was already worrying privacy watchdogs. Later this year, iPhones will begin using complex technology to spot images of child sexual abuse, commonly known as child pornography, that users upload to Apple’s iCloud storage service, the company said. Apple also said it would soon let parents turn on a feature that can flag when their children send or receive any nude photos in a text message. Apple said it had designed the new features in a way that protected the privacy of users, including by ensuring that Apple will never see or find out about any nude images exchanged in a child’s text messages. The scanning is done on the child’s device, and the notifications are sent only to parents’ devices. Apple provided quotes from some cybersecurity experts and child-safety groups that praised the company’s approach.