Russia may ban the sale of iPhone due to the new Apple program The NeuralMatch algorithm will check photos on users' gadgets for suspicious content.
Western media talked about the new development of Apple – NeuralMatch photo verification program. The algorithm is configured to search for prohibited content on users' devices.
The iPhone manufacturer has not yet officially commented on the data on the new program. However, according to sources, it will work this way: NeuralMatch will analyze every photo and video on the device and mark suspicious ones with a special marker. If there are several such personnel, the program will study them and, if necessary, notify law enforcement agencies, and until then, user data will not be transferred to third parties.
The main goal of the program is to protect children from sexual abuse, but many cybersecurity experts point out that the implementation of this algorithm will give Apple access to all devices in the world and will be a global surveillance tool.
If NeuralMatch is introduced into the iPhone, these devices may disappear from sale in Russia. The fact is that the algorithm can directly violate the federal law “On Personal Data,” says Evgeny Romashov, vice president of the Moscow bar association “Romashov, Romanov and Parnikov”.
“If Apple does not urgently explain itself to the authorities of the countries in which it operates, and simply launches its NeuralMatch, then there will be a direct violation of the law in two ways at once. Firstly, by analyzing the content of the photo and getting into personal data without the user's consent, because of which they can change the license agreement, and secondly, transferring them to third parties – for example, to the authorities or company employees for analysis, “- he comments. LIFE.
If Apple is found to have violated this law, it will first face a fine, then criminal liability for those responsible, and if these measures do not help, devices using NeuralMatch can be considered spyware and prohibited from sale.
