Apple will check shared iCloud links for ‘harmful content’

is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.

Apple will start checking iCloud items that are accessible to anyone who has the link for “harmful content” starting with iOS 27.3 and other 27.3 updates, the company says.

“When you share an item that can be accessed by Anyone with the Link in version 27.3 or later of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS, that content is made accessible to Apple to check for harmful content,” according to a support document reported on by 9to5Mac. Sharing something over iCloud with the “Anyone with the Link” permissions will also mean that it’s no longer end-to-end encrypted.

Apple’s support document does not define what “harmful content” is. But this new approach follows calls from protestors for Apple to crack down on child sexual abuse material stored in iCloud.

Apple says it “reserves the right to move, refuse, modify, remove, or delete” any harmful content that a user attempts to upload. Apple may also block or disable accounts, prevent a user from making a new account, or, “if necessary,” invoke law enforcement.

The company launched the first 27.3 developer betas yesterday, and said recently it plans to launch iOS 27.3 in December.

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