WhatsApp said in a statement that Apple’s latest iOS feature introduces « something very concerning into the world.”
Apple’s new tool to suss out potential child abuse in iPhone photos is already sparking controversy. On Friday, just one day after it was announced, Will Cathcart, the head of Facebook’s messaging app, WhatsApp, said that the company would decline to adopt the software on the grounds that it introduced a host of legal and privacy concerns. “I read the information Apple put out yesterday and I’m concerned. I think this is the wrong approach and a setback for people’s privacy all over the world,” Cathcart tweeted. “People have asked if we’ll adopt this system for WhatsApp. The answer is no.” In a series of tweets, Cathcart elaborated on those concerns, citing the ability of spyware companies governments to co-opt the software and the potential of the unvetted software to violate privacy. “Can this scanning software running on your phone be error proof? Researchers have not been allowed to find out,” he wrote.
