Apple sued by West Virginia for alleged child safety failures

West Virginia attorney general files consumer protection lawsuit against AppleIt claimed that it did not prevent child sexual abuse material from being stored and shared through iOS devices and iCloud services.

Republican John “JB” McCuskey accused Apple of prioritizing its privacy brand and its own business interests over child safety, while other major tech companies, including Google, MicrosoftAnd DropboxThey have been more proactive, using systems such as PhotoDNA to combat such materials.

PhotoDNA was developed by Microsoft and Dartmouth College in 2009.mix and match“Automatic detection and blocking of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) images where they are identified as such and reported to authorities.

Apple tested its own CSAM detection features in 2021, which can automatically find and remove child abuse images and report those uploaded to iCloud in the US to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

But the company withdrew plans for these features after privacy advocates worried that the technology could create a backdoor for government surveillance and could be modified and exploited to censor other types of content on iOS devices.

The company’s efforts since then have failed to satisfy a wide range of critics.

UK-based watchdog National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in 2024 said the apple did not adequately monitor, tabulate and report CSAM in its products to authorities.

And a lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California in 2024 revealed thousands of child sexual abuse survivors A lawsuit was filed against AppleHe claimed that the company should never have abandoned its previous plans for CSAM detection features and that it allowed such material to spread online, causing survivors to relive their trauma.

Apple has positioned itself as the most privacy-conscious among Big Tech companies since CEO Tim Cook wrote an open letter on the subject in 2014.

If West Virginia’s lawsuit is successful, it could force the company to make design or data security changes. The state is seeking civil and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief requiring Apple to implement effective CSAM detection.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Apple told CNBC that “protecting the safety and privacy of our users, especially children, is at the heart of what we do.”

The company pointed to parental controls and features like Contact Security that “automatically intervene on children’s devices when nudity is detected in Messages, shared Photos, AirDrop, and even live FaceTime calls” as a demonstration of its commitment to providing users with “safety, security, and privacy.”

“We innovate every day to combat ever-evolving threats and maintain the safest, most trusted platform for kids,” the spokesperson added.

— CNBC’s Kif Leswing contributed reporting