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Why is everyone so determined to turn themselves into East Germany
Because it worked in terms of having control over everything which is the goal of most politicians. Control and power. And don’t listen to them that this will not be used for something else. A smaller scale example but in Germany it was mandatory to give your name and address etc. if you wanted to visit a restaurant during covid. The police used that data for their investigations despite promising that would not be the case.
 
I’m not in favour of censorship in any form but you’d have to be completely blind to see the damage explicit internet content has done to society at large.

Violence in relationships has become normalised because it’s what young people think sex should be. The loneliness epidemic in men is the biggest cause of suicide and at its root is an addiction to porn instead of seeking healthy relationships with other consenting adults. It’s an insidious addiction because you don’t really notice the symptoms and the product is both infinite and free. Men feel ashamed about it and don’t seek help leading to spirals of self-destruction. That’s not to mention the exploitation of performers.

Putting explicit images of yourself out there into the ether of your own volition is equally as damaging for so many people and should not be encouraged. Go home and shower together instead.

Apple and Google blocking these images by default using on-device AI (which is what the current warning software uses) isn’t state surveillance and if you’re not looking at it then you’ve nothing to worry about. It would also blanket block it all for teenagers which is only a good thing.

And for the tin-hat brigade I’ll just mention that digital state ID tends to make use of Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) cryptography meaning it proves data without exposing it so it can’t be used for surveillance. You should be more worried about how much tracking large internet companies do than your own government.
Thanks for making a sensible intelligent comment on this.

I would echo what you say.

To those who oppose this:

What about the (young - and older) lives which have been ruined by the sharing of private material?

Or those that were so mortified, that they chose to take their own lives?

Yes, I’m aware that this sort of device level blocking - which will obviously by fine by AI and ML - can be misused.

But conversely, this is no argument against not doing anything.

And enough of the ‘personal responsibility’ argument please.

It’s rolled out by fast / ultra processed food lobbies, gun lobbies, tobacco lobbies and is demonstrably not true in any of these cases.

There always has to be limits on ‘freedom’ in complex societies such as ours - it’s why we have things like speed limits etc etc.

I’m for this. Too much much harm has happened and too much harm is being inflicted on our young people to protect our ‘freedom’.
 
Thanks for making a sensible intelligent comment on this.

I would echo what you say.

To those who oppose this:

What about the (young - and older) lives which have been ruined by the sharing of private material?

Or those that were so mortified, that they chose to take their own lives?

Yes, I’m aware that this sort of device level blocking - which will obviously by fine by AI and ML - can be misused.

But conversely, this is no argument against not doing anything.

And enough of the ‘personal responsibility’ argument please.

It’s rolled out by fast / ultra processed food lobbies, gun lobbies, tobacco lobbies and is demonstrably not true in any of these cases.

There always has to be limits on ‘freedom’ in complex societies such as ours - it’s why we have things like speed limits etc etc.

I’m for this. Too much much harm has happened and too much harm is being inflicted on our young people to protect our ‘freedom’.
People also get killed by drunk drivers. The argument in essence you are making is that we should go back into prohibition.
 
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True. That’s why I specifically wrote the ‘WWW’.

We wouldn’t be having a discussion on this forum without the foundational technology developed by a Brit.
And neither from Robert Metcalf who invented Ethernet. The foundation of WWW. Yes as a side bar convo, Tim Berners-Lee developed the www protocols which sit upon IP protocols. But we wouldn’t have networks had it not been for Robert Metcalf.

Any there is no chicken and egg here. The progression is clear.
 
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Please most people have largely sold their information to Facebook or other private companies that the government can just go to.
If you don’t see the difference then you are naive. Meta collects only the data I give them access to or what I am uploading to their servers via one of their multiple apps at least in the EU. Also Meta doesn’t use your data like government here wants use it. Meta uses the data for target ads. The UK to scan every device not just the app so they can have control of you and the informations you consume.
 
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I’m not in favour of censorship in any form but you’d have to be completely blind to see the damage explicit internet content has done to society at large.

Violence in relationships has become normalised because it’s what young people think sex should be. The loneliness epidemic in men is the biggest cause of suicide and at its root is an addiction to porn instead of seeking healthy relationships with other consenting adults. It’s an insidious addiction because you don’t really notice the symptoms and the product is both infinite and free. Men feel ashamed about it and don’t seek help leading to spirals of self-destruction. That’s not to mention the exploitation of performers.

Putting explicit images of yourself out there into the ether of your own volition is equally as damaging for so many people and should not be encouraged. Go home and shower together instead.

Apple and Google blocking these images by default using on-device AI (which is what the current warning software uses) isn’t state surveillance and if you’re not looking at it then you’ve nothing to worry about. It would also blanket block it all for teenagers which is only a good thing.

And for the tin-hat brigade I’ll just mention that digital state ID tends to make use of Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) cryptography meaning it proves data without exposing it so it can’t be used for surveillance. You should be more worried about how much tracking large internet companies do than your own government.
This post is sponsored by the UK government
 
Sadly for a lot of people, that excuse works. When they were first pushing the Investigatory Powers Act, I argued online how it wouldn’t “protect the kids” in the slightest and was merely an excuse to intrude on everyone, I was accused of being a paedophile multiple times for being against the act. The exact same thing happened when I argued against the age verification law.

yeah, and that's what makes this so nefarious. The proponents of these laws get to hide behind "Don't you care about children?" to silence any and all objections.

What gets lost is that the "protection" justification is just pretext, not purpose. The real purpose is building an infrastructure that serves power consolidation, with "protection" providing the appearance of a moral cover and "public good" mandate.

Thanks for speaking out on these issues.
 
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And enough of the ‘personal responsibility’ argument please.
No its not enough. If you are an adult you have rights but also responsibilities. We are not going to introduce mass surveillance just because some adults can not control themselves and their screen/porn addiction and because some parents neglect their responsibility. Maybe 10-15 years ago I could accept the excuse of parents that they dont know how to handle the new tech devices and the Internet. But now most parents are in their late 20s and 30s growing up with the Internet and having smartphones for almost two decades now. Apple has parental controls in settings for parents. To protect children we can also regulate big social media companies. Why does the government has to scan every device from phone to desktop pcs? Because its not about children.
 
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People also get killed by drunk drivers. The argument in essence you are making is that we should go back into prohibition.
The law on drink driving should be zero units/zero tolerance. This way there would be no ‘I’m ok to drive’ grey area which is what causes the majority of deaths.
 
Define "nudity" and "explicit images". I guess it will in practice end up as being "anything a software/AI nudity detector deems is nudity or explicit".

A while ago, I had two separate medical issues, at separate times. In order to track what was happening, I took a series of photos. Which strikes me as a sensible approach.

For both issues, the GP surgery asked me to send some of the photos. (I was not happy that they have no secure way of doing so. Just attachments to an email.) For both issues, the photos were important steps towards diagnosis and treatment, indeed, even to getting an appointment to start the process.

Both sets contained significant bare flesh without which they would have been useless. In taking them, I might well have included enough to trigger a nudity detector. (It can be quite difficult framing selfies of various parts!) Though what I actually sent was edited sufficiently to avoid being explicit in my opinion.

Will the surgery admin staff and my GP all have to verify they are adults?

Will I have to verify I am an adult to view my own photos of myself?

Will I have to verify I am an adult to view other patient photos from around the web? - Some of which were very helpful for me to understand the issues I had.

There are also the many issues about skin colour affecting algorithmic detection processes. Trivial reversible processes like inverting colours getting round detection. And so on.
 
Robert Metcalf USA invented Ethernet, which enabled this entire mess of a thing that we call the internet.

And Donald Watts Davis UK invented packet switching at NPL in the UK which made it useful. In fact ARPANET wouldn’t have even existed if Donald Watts didn’t point out someone in the US was working on it too at RAND entirely unnoticed.

Not to mention we are the ones who got pissed off with the protocols war and got everyone together, in Sydney to work it out and come up with the OSI model.

US couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery without us 🤣
 
I’m not in favour of censorship in any form but you’d have to be completely blind to see the damage explicit internet content has done to society at large.

Violence in relationships has become normalised because it’s what young people think sex should be. The loneliness epidemic in men is the biggest cause of suicide and at its root is an addiction to porn instead of seeking healthy relationships with other consenting adults. It’s an insidious addiction because you don’t really notice the symptoms and the product is both infinite and free. Men feel ashamed about it and don’t seek help leading to spirals of self-destruction. That’s not to mention the exploitation of performers.

Putting explicit images of yourself out there into the ether of your own volition is equally as damaging for so many people and should not be encouraged. Go home and shower together instead.

Apple and Google blocking these images by default using on-device AI (which is what the current warning software uses) isn’t state surveillance and if you’re not looking at it then you’ve nothing to worry about. It would also blanket block it all for teenagers which is only a good thing.

And for the tin-hat brigade I’ll just mention that digital state ID tends to make use of Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) cryptography meaning it proves data without exposing it so it can’t be used for surveillance. You should be more worried about how much tracking large internet companies do than your own government.
State ID can use zero knowledge proofs and eIDAS is building towards that… but the UK has one of the worst digital-ID imaginable.

providing on device age verification with tokens is one thing for when you’re interacting with adult content online. But on your device we end up having issues simply because of principle. If I want to cuddle my child then I can do that, and if I don’t want to cuddle them then it should be fine. Violence in relationships haven’t been normalized and thinking that is hilariously wrong when we objectively know it was actually worse in the past before the internet existed.

The fact you want corporations to decide this is beyond Wilde. I absolutely do not see why anyone want Google or Apple or any equivalent should be orderd to manage what we seexand consume of content that is completely legal. Morals don’t belong here
 
If you don’t see the difference then you are naive. Meta collects only the data I give them access to or what I am uploading to their servers via one of their multiple apps at least in the EU. Also Meta doesn’t use your data like government here wants use it. Meta uses the data for target ads. The UK to scan every device not just the app so they can have control of you and the informations you consume.
They’re collecting the browsing data of every website that has a like button, even without your consent. They admitted so themselves but never stopped because it’s perfectly legal. People are kidding themselves if they think they have any power over what data these corporations collect. The only way to stop it is to avoid the web entirely and good luck with that.
 
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And Donald Watts Davis UK invented packet switching at NPL in the UK which made it useful. In fact ARPANET wouldn’t have even existed if Donald Watts didn’t point out someone in the US was working on it too at RAND entirely unnoticed.

Not to mention we are the ones who got pissed off with the protocols war and got everyone together, in Sydney to work it out and come up with the OSI model.

US couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery without us 🤣
Well if that is the case in 1776 ;)
 
State ID can use zero knowledge proofs and eIDAS is building towards that… but the UK has one of the worst digital-ID imaginable.

providing on device age verification with tokens is one thing for when you’re interacting with adult content online. But on your device we end up having issues simply because of principle. If I want to cuddle my child then I can do that, and if I don’t want to cuddle them then it should be fine. Violence in relationships haven’t been normalized and thinking that is hilariously wrong when we objectively know it was actually worse in the past before the internet existed.

The fact you want corporations to decide this is beyond Wilde. I absolutely do not see why anyone want Google or Apple or any equivalent should be orderd to manage what we seexand consume of content that is completely legal. Morals don’t belong here
The UK government actually already has ZKP on Android in partnership with Google. You can register a local copy of your passport (never saved to cloud) and use it for online ID proof. For some stupid reason they forgot to lead with this.

It would be helpful if we caught up with the rest of Europe instead of being so backwards on things. Estonia proved e-gov works at scale and most EU countries have state ID cards.

Age gating online content is fine because it’s what we do in meatspace. Asking corps to block rude images is the same as packaging jazz magazines in black covers on the top shelf of a corner shop which we also do in meatspace.
 
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Well you can all thank Apple for their proposed service to do private and secure on device scanning a few years back to the whole globe…. Before they slowly realized the harm they just unleashed and how unworkable it was.

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Why are you blaming Apple when all the other major tech companies have been doing CSAM for years?

If any government is looking for an excuse to introduce something related to CSAM they’re not going to use Apple (who abandoned their system) as justification.

They’ll use all the other companies (Google, Microsoft, Meta…) that have been actively scanning for CSAM materials BEFORE Apple announced their system and have continued doing it SINCE.
 
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