Technology firms have been told to do better in child pornography.

 Technology firms have been told to do better in child pornography.

child pornography

A child on a computer The government provides Ofcom with additional tools to ensure that technology companies take action to prevent, identify and eliminate content on child sexual abuse and exploitation. The powers that be will be introduced through an Internet Security Amendment Bill, which aims to strengthen the Internet. If technology firms do not comply, Ofcom will be able to charge a fine of up to £ 18m or 10% of the company's annual profit, depending on the maximum. Yet there is growing concern about how it will work. There are questions as to what additional tools will be available for media director Ofcom. And another major concern revolves around popular end-to-end encryption (E2EE) or more secure messages - such as WhatsApp and Signal - and how that can be accessed. The government says it supports the development of tools that can access child pornography content on or near the E2EE site, while respecting the privacy of users. It says this will also inform the wider debate about user privacy and user safety. But Prof Alan Woodward of the University of Surrey told the BBC that in order to obtain child abuse images or related content, current strategies will only work on unwritten data. If OSB insists on accessing such items through encrypted data, only the sending and receiving hardware, i.e. where it is removed for use. Many people would consider what is said to be an overstatement and advise using it to find other topics that are unrelated to child safety." Client-side scanning refers to the technology that scans the content of a message to find the same content on a content site (e.g. child sexual abuse images) before the message is sent to the intended recipient. When Ofcom gains power to enforce scanning technology, there are calls from experts for the government to disclose details about technical feasibility, security implications and privacy implications. The story continues Experts say that there is no way to make the scanning technology work for "good" purposes only. "The big problem will be that any technology that can be used to look at what is written can be misused by the wrong characters to be careful," said Prof Woodward. One of the basic conditions for E2EE is that only the sender and intended recipients of the message can or do not understand the content of that message. It is one of the reasons why people like to use WhatsApp and Signal. Susie Hargreaves, chief executive of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), is seeking funding from OSB so that Ofcom can co-operate with the IWF to regulate child abuse resources online. He said: “Our unparalleled technology in this area will make the response stronger and more effective from day one. We have a close working relationship with business, law enforcement, and top-notch competence that can guarantee that no child is forgotten or that their pain is visible. Evaluation The government says it will not be enough for a large technology company to say that they will not be able to use certain technologies in their area, because of the way they are activated. If it is equal and needed, Ofcom can now issue a notice to the company to take steps to show that it is using its best efforts to build or acquire tools that will remove child sexual abuse images. But all of this depends on the regulator's assessment of the risks of child abuse. Professor Woodward said: "Ofcom has a steep hill. It will have to attract a lot of people with rare talent ... in order to come up with the technical solutions that OSB wants. "That's not to mention the skills they will need to control the second law ... It's a really big job ahead of them." Ofcom told the BBC that it was preparing to take on a new role, bringing skills and expertise across the technology sector, as well as experts from child protection and advocacy organizations. According to its spokeswoman, dealing with child sexual abuse on the Internet should be the foundation of new cybersecurity regulations. It is a big and challenging task, but we will be ready to implement these laws once the OSB is approved." Laptop keyboard The National Crime Agency estimates that between 550,000 and 850,000 people in the UK put children at risk of sexual abuse. Access to online content may result in offenders becoming more accustomed to using their content, sharing ways to avoid detection, and increasingly committing litigation of child sexual abuse. Digital Minister Nadine Dorries said: "Technology firms have a responsibility not to provide safe havens for the distribution of horrific images of child abuse online. Maeve Hanna, a colleague at law firm Allen & Overy, told the BBC: “While the intentions of the amendment are commendable, it is not clear what the technology company will have to do to comply with Ofcom's notices or avoid hefty penalties. threatened. "This ambiguity will pose serious obstacles for Ofcom in any of its actions. For example, how will Ofcom show that technology companies can - but have failed - develop any new technologies when those technologies do not currently exist?"