Telecom
Apple Update to Check iPhones for Images of Child Sexual Abuse
New technology will allow iPhones’ operating systems to match abusive photos against a database of known child sexual abuse images.
Apple said iPhones and iPads will soon start detecting images containing child sexual abuse and reporting them as they are uploaded to its online storage in the United States, a move privacy advocates say raises concerns.
“We want to help protect children from predators who use communication tools to recruit and exploit them, and limit the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM),” Apple said in an online post.
New technology will allow software powering Apple mobile devices to match abusive photos on a user’s phone against a database of known CSAM images provided by child safety organizations, then flag the images as they are uploaded to Apple’s online iCloud storage, according to the company.
However, several digital rights organizations say the tweaks to Apple’s operating systems create a potential “backdoor” into gadgets that could be exploited by governments or other groups.
Apple counters that it will not have direct access to the images and stressed steps it’s taken to protect privacy and security.
The Silicon Valley-based tech giant said the matching of photos would be “powered by a cryptographic technology” to determine “if there is a match without revealing the result,” unless the image was found to contain depictions of child sexual abuse.
Apple will report such images to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which works with police, according to a statement by the company.
India McKinney and Erica Portnoy of the digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation said in a post that “Apple’s compromise on end-to-end encryption may appease government agencies in the United States and abroad, but it is a shocking about-face for users who have relied on the company’s leadership in privacy and security.”
– Minding Messages –
The new image-monitoring feature is part of a series of tools heading to Apple mobile devices, according to the company.
Apple’s texting app, Messages, will use machine learning to recognize and warn children and their parents when receiving or sending sexually explicit photos, the company said in the statement.
“When receiving this type of content, the photo will be blurred and the child will be warned,” Apple said.
“As an additional precaution, the child can also be told that, to make sure they are safe, their parents will get a message if they do view it.”
Similar precautions are triggered if a child tries to send a sexually explicit photo, according to Apple.
Messages will use machine learning power on devices to analyze images attached to missives to determine whether they are sexually explicit, according to Apple.
The feature is headed to the latest Macintosh computer operating system, as well as iOS.
Personal assistant Siri, meanwhile, will be taught to “intervene” when users try to search topics related to child sexual abuse, according to Apple.
Greg Nojeim of the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington, DC said that “Apple is replacing its industry-standard end-to-end encrypted messaging system with an infrastructure for surveillance and censorship.”
This, he said, would make users “vulnerable to abuse and scope-creep not only in the United States, but around the world.”
“Apple should abandon these changes and restore its users’ faith in the security and integrity of their data on Apple devices and services.”
Apple has built its reputation on defending privacy on its devices and services despite pressure from politicians and police to gain access to people’s data in the name of fighting crime or terrorism.
“Child exploitation is a serious problem and Apple isn’t the first tech company to bend its privacy-protective stance in an attempt to combat it,” McKinney and Portnoy of the EFF said.
“At the end of the day, even a thoroughly documented, carefully thought-out, and narrowly-scoped backdoor is still a backdoor,” they added.
Telecom
IHS Nigeria Hosts Telecom Industry Stakeholders to Discuss Protection of Critical National Infrastructure in Lagos State
IHS Nigeria, part of the IHS Holding Limited (NYSE: IHS) (“IHS Towers”) group, one of the largest independent owners, operators, and developers of shared communications infrastructure in the world by tower count, recently hosted a high-level meeting of stakeholders in the telecommunications industry including regulators and law enforcement agencies, at its corporate headquarters in Lagos.
The meeting was organized to develop a multi-stakeholder action plan for the protection of Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) assets in Lagos state.
Recognizing the importance of communications infrastructure as the backbone of national security, economic growth and social cohesion, the stakeholders at the meeting convened under the umbrella of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) agreed on the urgent need for collaborative solutions to ensure the protection of these vital assets.
The meeting was attended by senior representatives from the telecommunications stakeholder groups and regulatory bodies including the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) and the Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance and Regulatory Agency (LASIMRA).
Also in attendance were representatives from the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), and InfraCos as well as the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the security agency tasked with the protection of Critical National Infrastructure across the country.
Following extensive deliberations, the stakeholders resolved to establish a working group dedicated to addressing key industry challenges, including the vandalization and theft of telecommunications infrastructure, arbitrary shutdown of base stations, fiber cuts due to road construction and the denial of access by unauthorized individuals by leveraging technology for real-time monitoring and protection, strengthening security measures around telecommunication sites and collaborating more with the security and regulatory agencies to mitigate these challenges.
The stakeholders underscored the need to prioritize deterrence and prevention of these incidents and highlighted the importance of public awareness campaigns to sensitize the host communities and public of the need to protect telecommunications infrastructure in their localities.
Dapo Otunla, Senior Vice President & Chief Corporate Services Officer of IHS Nigeria, commented, “The protection of Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) has been a critical concern for all industry stakeholders.
“We are experiencing daily losses of assets, which significantly impact on the quality of service delivered to subscribers. Addressing these issues is paramount to sustaining Nigeria’s digital ecosystem and meeting regulatory expectations.”
Over 1ooo athletes are already set to participate in the upcoming MTN Champs Continental Relays, taking place between April 9 and April 12 at the UNILAG and Yabatech Sports complexes. Organisers anticipate even more registrations before the April 2 deadline.
MTN Champs is Nigeria’s largest grassroots sports competition, a collaboration between MTN Nigeria and Making of Champs (MoC), providing a platform for young athletes to showcase their talents and potentially represent Nigeria on the global stage.
Osaze Ebueku, Senior Manager, Go-to-Market at MTN Nigeria at the opening ceremony of the MTN Champs Classics events in Benin had emphasised the long-term vision behind MTN Champs: “We’re building future Olympians for Nigeria. MTN Champs is about more than competition. It’s about changing lives.”
The continental relays mark the second leg of the MTN Champs Season 3, following the Classics competition in Benin, which saw 4,371 event entries from 2,056 athletes.
As of March 24, the Lagos leg had already recorded 2,821 event entries across different age categories, highlighting the growing enthusiasm around the competition.
The registered athletes are spread across four categories, with 174 in the Cadet (U-14) category, 388 in Youth (U-17), 270 in Junior (U-20), and 279 in the Senior category.
To ensure smooth participation, organisers have outlined important guidelines. Athletes in the Cadet, Youth, and Junior categories must submit a signed Parental Consent Form, while all registered schools and athletes must collect their competition bibs by April 8 at the competition venue to confirm their participation and secure their place on the start list.
Sports enthusiasts can look forward to an electrifying showcase of emerging talent, as young athletes seize the opportunity to prove their skills on a professional stage.
Telecom
Again, Labour Fumes, Threatens Shutdown of Telcos over Non-Implementation of 15 Percent Tariff Reduction
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is threatening to shut down operations of telecommunications companies over their refusal to comment on the 15 percent reduction in telecom tariffs.
Recall that that organised labour, through the NLC, forced the federal government and NCC to reduce the telecommunications tariff hike from 50% to 35% after threatening to shut down telecom operations and the NCC in response to what it saw as exploitative economic policies amidst excruciating suffering, hardship, and deepening poverty.
The government had previously formed a 10-member committee, consisting of five government and NLC representatives, to deliberate on the thorny topic of tariff hikes within two weeks and report back before making a final decision on the new telecom tariff structure.
Consequently, on Friday, February 21, 2025, the committee, at a meeting conducted in the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) that lasted nearly three hours, decided on a 15 per cent tariff cut.
According to reports, in accordance with the conditions of the agreement, an official communiqué announcing the tariff reduction was scheduled to be released on Saturday, February 22.
According to Chronicle,iIt was said that the meeting began at 4:00 p.m. and concluded around 7:00 p.m., during which NLC representatives insisted that the tariff hike be withdrawn.
According to sources, after significant pressure from NLC representatives in the 10-man committee, the government and NCC gave up and agreed on the 15% decrease, which the government or NCC should have announced the next day.
However, at the time of this report, no such announcement has been made.
Leaders of the labour union are not taking the government’s failure to announce or implement the 15% tariff decrease lightly, suspecting that they have been duped.
The Labour leaders have therefore resolved to directly confront the NCC and telecommunications operators next week.
Though it has been reported that the date for the start of the industrial action against the NCC and telecom providers has been set and mobilisation is underway, the information is being closely guarded.
One of the leaders of the NLC stated that “We have received directives to commence mobilisation since last week. In fact, the date for the commencement of industrial action against the NCC and telecommunication operators’ offices across the country has been fixed. We have been warned not to disclose the date because the plan is to take all concerned by surprise. We are not giving any notice because we thought we had resolved this matter over a month ago. It is as if we have been scammed. Therefore, we have decided to confront the matter head-on.”
On February 12, the NLC expressed outrage over telecommunications companies’ tariff hikes, despite an earlier agreement with the Federal Government and the NCC.
According to the Labour union, “If the telecommunications companies fail to revert to the old tariff by the end of February 2025, a total shutdown of their operations nationwide will commence on March 1, 2025.”
To demonstrate its seriousness, the NLC declared that, as a first step in resisting the arbitrary tariff hike, it directed that workers and other willing citizens boycott the services of MTN, AIRTEL, and GLO daily between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. until the end.
On Tuesday, February 11, NLC leaders issued a communiqué at the conclusion of their Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Lokoja, Kogi State, urging workers and citizens to suspend data purchases from telecommunications companies, which have also become one of their most effective tools for exploiting Nigerian citizens.
The communiqué, signed by Joe Ajaero and Emma Ugboaja, Congress’ President and General Secretary, respectively, instructed NLC State Councils and industrial union affiliates to quickly sensitise and mobilise their members and the general public in their jurisdictions.
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