Apple today announced a number of new child safety measures that will be available alongside the iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey updates. These initiatives are designed to keep children online safer.Communication Safety, one of the new features, has raised privacy concerns as it allows Apple scan images sent and received via the Messages app to search for explicit sexual content. However, Apple has confirmed that this feature is only available to children's accounts and must be enabled by parents using the Family Sharing feature.Apple scans images sent or received through the Messages app for nudity if a parent has turned on Communication Safety. The photo will automatically be blurred if nudity is detected and the child will receive a warning that it might contain private parts.Apple warns that sensitive photos and videos can show your private parts if you are wearing bathing suits. It's not your fault. However, sensitive photos and videos could be used to harm you.If the child chooses to view the photo, they can do so. Parents can request a notification if the child clicks through to view blurred photos. The warning screen states that if the child decides to view the photo, parents will receive a notification to ensure their safety.These parental notifications can be turned off if the child viewing the image is younger than 13. Parents will not be notified if a child under 13 views the blurred photo. However, children between these ages will still receive the message about sensitive content if Communication Safety has been turned on.Communication Safety is not available to adult accounts. It can only be enabled for users under 18 years of age. Adults do not have to worry about their content being scanned.When setting up a device for a child with Family Sharing, parents must explicitly opt in to Communication Safety. If a family does not wish to use it, it can be disabled. This feature uses on-device image analysis to analyze attachments. Because it is on-device the content of an iMessage cannot be readable by Apple. It remains protected with end–to-end encryption.
