Apple is facing a major new lawsuit in the United States over the abandonment of its CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) detection system on iCloud. This case once again highlights the delicate balance between the protection of privacy and the fight against illegal content.
A collective complaint worth more than a billion dollars
A class-action lawsuit has just been filed against Apple in Northern California federal court, seeking more than $1.2 billion in damages. The main plaintiff, a 27-year-old woman who remains anonymous, potentially represents 2,680 victims. She claims that Apple failed in its promise to protect victims by abandoning its NeuralHash system announced in 2021, which was supposed to make it possible to detect child pornography content on iCloud.
The complainant, a victim of abuse during her childhood, still receives daily notifications from law enforcement informing her that her photos are circulating, particularly via iCloud. One particular case mentioned in the complaint concerns images found on a MacBook in Vermont.
Apple between security and privacy
Apple defends itself by emphasizing its commitment to fighting these crimes while preserving the privacy of its users. Fred Sainz, an Apple spokesperson, said the company is “actively and urgently innovating to combat these crimes without compromising the security and privacy of all our users.”
The NeuralHash system was to compare the digital signatures of photos stored on iCloud with a database of known illegal images provided by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. However, facing criticism from cybersecurity experts who feared the system could create a backdoor for government surveillance, Apple abandoned the project.
A recurring problem for Apple
This new legal action is not isolated. Last August, a 9-year-old girl had already sued Apple in North Carolina after receiving child pornography via iCloud links. The numbers speak for themselves: while Google and Facebook each report more than a million cases per year, Apple has only reported 267.
A former Apple executive, Eric Friedman, also warned in 2020 that Apple could be “the largest distribution platform for child pornography” due to its priority given to confidentiality rather than privacy. security.
The looming legal battle could force Apple to review its position on the balance between protecting privacy and fighting illegal content, a debate that concerns the entire technology industry.
