UK Online Safety Bill Could Enable Phone Surveillance, Technology Experts Fear

Tech mandated by UK Online Safety Bill ‘could turn phones into surveillance tools’

The fear of mass surveillance has been exacerbated with a new study from Imperial College London, which found that tech mandated by the UK Government’s Online Safety Bill could be used to turn millions of phones into facial recognition tools. This technology, known as client-side scanning (CSS), would be introduced to detect when people are trying to share images that are known to be illegal content such as images of child abuse, before they are encrypted and sent.

Privacy Implications

The proposed Bill mandates apps to install CSS, which would scan images and compare them with a database of known illegal content. If it finds a match, the content would be reported and shared with crime agencies, unencrypted. However, the study shows it would also be possible for governments to use CSS to perform facial recognition searches on people’s private messages without their knowledge. As such, the new research warns that “It is our opinion that client-side scanning is not the innocuous ‘single purpose’ technology it has been described to Parliament as. We call on policymakers to thoroughly evaluate the pros and cons of client-side scanning, including the risk of it being abused before passing laws mandating its installation on millions of phones”.

Online Safety Bill

This proposed legislation is currently being reviewed in the UK parliament, and if it passes, the bill will mandate the installation of CSS on mobile devices in the country. CSS is also part of an EU proposal which, if passed, could mandate its installation on hundreds of millions of phones. The tool has already been developed in the US by companies like Apple.

Accuracy of the tool

To carry out the study, the team recreated the algorithms that underpin CSS, to match the signature of images to the database of known illegal content. They then taught the sof 通過 are to also scan the content for wanted faces. They show their sof 通過 are to be indistinguishable from the original one while being very accurate at identifying the faces of wanted persons in people’s photos.

Editorial: Balancing Safety and Privacy on the Internet

As the internet becomes part and parcel of our lives, the need to protect our privacy has become ever more significant. The introduction of CSS in the UK and EU proposals may raise valid concerns on the issue of privacy. On the one hand, this technology can help identify and prevent illegal online activities, and this is critical to promoting a safer online environment. Still, on the other hand, this technology can be abused, leading to a breach of our privacy. As such, it is essential to strike a balance be 通過 een ensuring online safety and respecting people’s privacy.

Advice

It is vital to be aware of the potential privacy implications when latest policies are being discussed in parliaments to ensure that we understand what’s at stake when laws are passed on the scrutiny of our private lives on the internet. While governments might believe that CSS is the way to reduce illegal online activity, it is essential to be mindful of the privacy concerns that have been identified. As we await the decision of the UK parliament on the Online Safety Bill, we can only hope that policymakers will take the time to thoroughly examine the potential risks and implications that come with the introduction of CSS.