Amber Neely
Heat Initiative, a child safety advocacy group, is launching a multi-million dollar campaign against Apple to pressure the company into reinstating iCloud CSAM detection.
Heat Initiative said it would launch the campaign against Apple after pressing the tech giant on why it had abandoned plans for on-device and iCloud Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) detection tools. The launch comes after Apple giving its most detailed response yet as to why it backed off its plans, citing that it would uphold user privacy.
In response to Apple, Heat Initiative has officially launched its campaign website. The advocacy group issues a statement on the front page that reads, "Child sexual abuse is stored on iCloud. Apple allows it."
"Apple's landmark announcement to detect child sexual abuse images and videos in 2021 was silently rolled back, impacting the lives of children worldwide," the statement continues. "With every day that passes, there are kids suffering because of this inaction, which is why we're calling on Apple to deliver on their commitment."
The website contains alleged case studies that detail multiple cases where iCloud had been used to store sexual abuse materials, including photos, videos, and explicit messages.
It calls on Apple to "detect, report, and remove sexual abuse images and videos from iCloud," as well as "create a robust reporting mechanism for users to report child sexual abuse images and videos to Apple."
The company provides a copy of a letter it sent directly to Tim Cook, saying that it was "shocked and discouraged by your decision to reverse course and not institute" CSAM detection measures.
It also includes a button that allows visitors to send a prewritten email demanding action from Apple to the entire Apple executive team.
Child Sexual Abuse Material is an ongoing severe concern Apple attempted to address with on-device and iCloud detection tools. These controversial tools were ultimately abandoned in December 2022, leaving more controversy in its wake.
The Heat Initiative is not alone in its quest. As spotted by 9to5mac, the Christian Brothers Investment Services, and Degroof Petercam are respectively filing and backing a shareholder resolution about the topic.
Letter to Tim Cook With Signatures by Mike Wuerthele on Scribd
AppleInsider Staff
Andrew Orr
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
28 Comments
Apple's use of a "slippery slope" argument is entirely unconvincing and lazy.
Honestly I think they're damned if they do and damned if they don't. People will get pissed about privacy on one side which isn't good for Apple and then advocacy groups get pissed on the other side. What are they gonna do....
Again with a group of idiots who think Apple can make a “backdoor” that “only the good guys” have access to.
Good luck with that. If Apple’s own engineers tried and failed, it’s very unlikely anyone else could, and certainly not this fringe outfit.
We can compel companies to make them add a feature now?
Pretty horrible for any group to use children to get what they want. They know people will sympathize only because they say they are doing it to protect the innocents. And while it is true their entire organization exists to protect kids, what they are trying to achieve with Apple will negatively impact most people, for reasons Apple so eloquently stated. And this is why their use of kids in this fight is a below the belt punch. They couldn't care less if what Apple does opens the door to hell itself. They only want what they want "to help kids." Even negative consequences be darned!
With that said, Googling "Heat Initiative" and "Sarah Gardner" yields pretty much nothing. It's like they don't even exist. Looks very shady to me. Not sure why Apple even gave such an invisible and seemingly non-existent organization the time of day. We need Apple Insider to sleuth out more details about this mysterious group that's demanding to remove YOUR privacy protections currently in place.