Apple Plans to Release a Feature That Blurs Nude Pictures to Help with Child Safety

Ethan James 25 Apr 2022

Apple is helping protect the children with its new feature which is planned to be released worldwide. The new feature is geared toward preventing children from having access to images that feature nudity. The feature debuted in the US in December 2021. The feature automatically detects nude images on pictures sent by a child or received by a child.

The feature is deactivated by default but can be activated by parents whenever they wish. The feature also prompts the child to make a safe choice as well as get in contact with an adult to address the flagged photo, especially if they are below 13 years old.

The Guardian first reported that the child safety feature from Apple will be made available in the UK. We also learn from AppleInsider that the feature will be made available in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. The Cupertino company stated that the messages app will be identifying images of nudity by using on-device machine learning. This will prevent from having access to these images.

Here are some instructions on how to activate the feature:

• First, the parent should have their Apple device updated to iOS 15.2 or the latest.
• Next, the child’s device should be registered using their Apple ID and added to a family sharing group.
• They can proceed to the Screen Time settings where they can see their child’s device.

Next, they can choose Communication Safety and activate the sensitive photo settings. However, the parent may need a passcode to access the selected device.

What are your thoughts on this new Apple feature? Do you think it will be effective and there are more people can do to help protect children from these nude images? We invite you to express your opinions in the comments section at the bottom of the page.