WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart Protests Apple's Technology Is Considered An Intrusion Of User Privacy

JAKARTA – Again, Apple is making a scene in the technology world. The Cupertino giant, United States (US) officially presents photo scanning technology in its iCloud service.

The purpose of the scan is to detect Child Sexually Abused Material (CSAM). This means that the company can scan any iCloud user's photos without any restrictions. And of course this is considered a concern about privacy.

However, not a few who protested Apple not to bring this feature. One of them is WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart as quoted from 9to5Mac, Tuesday 9 August.

Through his official Twitter page, Cathcart said he was "concerned" about Apple's plans. He stated, "Apple has long needed to do more to fight CSAM, but the approach they are taking introduces something very concerning to the world," said Catcart.

"Instead of focusing on making it easier for people to report content that's shared with them, Apple has created software that can scan all the private photos on your phone - even photos you haven't shared with anyone. That's not privacy."

Furthermore, Cathcart also raises questions about how such a system can be exploited by other parties, such as the Chinese government or other countries. In fact, it is possible that Apple's technology could be misused by spyware companies.

"The surveillance systems that Apple creates and operates can easily be used to scan private content for whatever reason they or the government wants to control," explains Cathcart.

However, an Apple spokesperson denied the statement from Cathcart. He said, users can still control the technology manually to protect the privacy of data in iCloud.

Apple also insists that the system is only trained on "special" image databases provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and other organizations.

It is known that this is not the first time Cathcart has criticized Apple. A few weeks ago, he called out Apple about the NSO malware in an interview with The Guardian and revealed the company should “speak up, join in” rather than saying it won't affect many of its users.