Apple Will Scan Public iCloud Share Links for Harmful Content

Apple has quietly announced that it will start checking publicly shared iCloud links for harmful material, a policy change likely to reignite the privacy debate. The plan, published on a support page, takes effect with version 27.3 of iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS, which is currently in developer beta and expected to reach everyone in December.

The checks apply only to items shared through the Anyone with the Link option, not content sent directly to named people. Apple says those items will be checked for harmful content but has not defined the term. Sharing with anyone already removes end-to-end encryption from that item, even for users with Advanced Data Protection switched on.

Apple reserves the right to move, refuse, modify, remove or delete harmful content and to block or disable accounts, and it may involve law enforcement. It has not said whether people, automated systems or both will make moderation decisions, and it did not answer The Register's questions, leaving privacy advocates with plenty of unanswered concerns.