WhatsApp CEO accuses Apple of creating a surveillance system, here’s why

NEW DELHI: A day after Apple announced new child safety features for its devices, there seems to be a lot of scepticism about how it will affect user privacy. The concern is there as Apple is a company that has always championed the cause of user privacy and security. WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart in a series of tweets has raised valid questions and even accused Apple of creating a surveillance system.
“I read the information Apple put out yesterday and I’m concerned. I think this is the wrong approach and a setback for people’s privacy all over the world,” Cathcart tweeted. He further said that WhatsApp will never “adopt this system”.

Cathcart argued that personal computers have existed for decades and there “has never been a mandate to scan the private content of all desktops, laptops or phones globally for unlawful content. It’s not how technology built in free countries works.”
He further said that “this is an Apple built and operated surveillance system that could very easily be used to scan private content for anything they or a government decides it wants to control.” It is a question that has been mooted since the features were announced that it could be used.

The WhatsApp CEO also criticised Apple for not engaging with security experts on the matter. “There are so many problems with this approach, and it’s troubling to see them act without engaging experts that have long documented their technical and broader concerns with this.”
Apple, on its part, has maintained that user privacy remains at the heart of the new child features. In the next few days, we can expect to hear more from other security researchers as well as Apple on the whole issue of user privacy.