In yet another demonstration of its addiction to surveillance, the UK government now wants your smartphones to stop you from looking at images containing nudes unless you pass an age verification check. The Financial Times reports the UK will soon “encourage” Apple and Google to build nudity-detection algorithms into their operating systems by default in an attempt to tackle violence against women and girls.
At first glance, this seems like a good idea, as it might protect people against various forms of abuse and could help in the battle against child pornography.
Critical to the notion is the concept that operating system vendors, rather than individual apps, will become responsible for age verification. Apple already offers Communication Safety tools within Parental Controls. These already detect nude photos and videos in apps such as Messages or FaceTime.
