Apple’s communication safety features are fixing a long-standing AirDrop issue, that women are usually the victims of.
Apple will now automatically block nudes sent over AirDrop in iOS 17, the company shared. The feature comes as a package aimed at enhancing communication safety, even as Apple makes it easier to share photos, contact details, and more among iPhone owners.
The company lists the new change under privacy in a press release it issued following WWDC 2023, noting that it was an expansion of the communication safety features it had previously billed as aimed at protecting children. Now, people who try to send explicit images either over AirDrop or by the new Contact Posters and FaceTime messages will find their images blurred by default. Based on how it currently works in the Messages app, users will be able to block the offending contact or message someone they trust for support.
According to the research cited by the UK government, 76% of girls aged 12-18 have been sent unsolicited nude images from men and boys in a practice dubbed ‘cyber-flashing’.
