Month: August 2021

Sets out expectations for big tech.

But see little upside in them.

Advocates for a simpler structure to broadband plans.

Under the microscope for its capital raising strategies.

Practice management SaaS vendor changes hands.

Podcast: CTO Joseph Vartuli talks architectural guardrails and growth.

As industry unites a second time in its demand for change.

The image recognition will come in new versions of iOS and iPadOS - due to be released later year

Apple has announced a new feature for iPhones and iPads that is intended to limit the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online.

Apple says that its upcoming versions of iOS and iPadOS - due to be released later this year - will have 'new applications of cryptography' - enabling the company to detect CSAM images as they are uploaded to iCloud Photos, Apple's online storage.

Before an image is stored in iCloud Photos, an on-device matching process will be performed for that image against the database of known CSAM images, compiled by the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

Apple is using a technology dubbed neuralHash, which analyses an image and converts it to a hash key or unique set of numbers. It then matches the key against NCMEC's database using cryptography.

Apple said the system ensures that it cannot learn about images that don't match the database.

A human reviewer will examine any images the system flags, to confirm a match.

If it is found that the image contains child abuse material, the user's account will be disabled, and the findings reported to the NCMEC.

'At Apple, our goal is to create technology that empowers people and enriches their lives - while helping them stay safe,' Apple said.

'We want to help protect children from predators who use communication tools to recruit and exploit them, and limit the spread of Child Sexual Abuse Material.'

The company claimed that its system has an error rate of 'less than one in 1 trillion' per year, and that it protects user privacy.

However, privacy groups have voiced concerns that authoritarian governments could exploit the changes to Apple's operating systems to spy on dissidents or protesters.

Matthew Green, a cryptography researcher at Johns Hopkins University, said he was concerned about the potential use of the technology to frame innocent people by sending them malicious images designed to appear as matches for child porn.

Such images could fool Apple's algorithm, eventually putting users in trouble, according to Mr. Green.

"This is a thing that you can do. Researchers have been able to do this pretty easily."

Apple has also announced that its Messages app has a new feature to warn children and their parents when sending or receiving sexually explicit images, while keeping private communications unreadable by Apple.

The company is also adding new features in Siri and Search that will intervene when users try to search for CSAM-related material.

Amazon becomes the latest tech firm to announce a postponement following a rise in US Covid cases

Amazon has become the latest tech firm to delay reopening its offices, telling its corporate and tech employees they will not return until January 2022.

In an email to employees seen by the Seattle Times, Amazon head of HR Beth Galetti wrote: "As we continue to closely watch conditions related to Covid-19, we are adjusting our guidance for corporate employees in the US and other countries where we had previously anticipated our employees would begin coming in regularly the week of Sept. 7. We are now extending this date to Jan. 3, 2022."

In a statement, Amazon said: "As we continue to closely watch local conditions related to Covid-19, we are adjusting our guidance for corporate employees,"

The new reopening data is later than those announced by Google and Microsoft, both of which postponed bringing employees back to the office to October. But unlike those two companies, and also Facebook, Amazon has not stated that its staff must be vaccinated before they return.

Amazon told employees in March that it was looking to return to an "office-centric culture", but in June it backtracked, telling its corporate employees they could work remotely for two days a week, while four full weeks in a year could be worked outside the office.

The delay in reopening offices has been prompted by a sharp rise in the number of Covid-19 infections as the Delta variant spreads across the US. However, Amazon's warehouse facilities and physical store locations have continued to work in-person throughout the pandemic.

Tech companies are not alone in postponing office reopenings in the US. Financial giants Wells Fargo and BlackRock were also due to bring back remote workforces in September, but this week both announced a delay to planned office returns until October.