Over the weekend, our petition to Apple asking the company not to install surveillance software in every iPhone hit an important milestone: 25,000 signatures. We plan to deliver this petition to Apple soon; and the more individuals who sign, the more impact it will have. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has voiced their concerns about this dangerous plan. 

SIGN THE PETITION

TELL APPLE: DON'T SCAN OUR PHONES

Apple has been caught off guard by the overwhelming resistance to its August 5th announcement that it will begin. In addition to numerous petitions like ours, over 90 organizations across the globe have urged the company to abandon its plans. But the backlash should be no surprise: what Apple intends to do will create an enormous danger to our privacy and security. It will give ammunition to authoritarian governments wishing to expand the surveillance, and because the company has compromised security and privacy at the behest of governments in the past, it's not a stretch to think they may do so again. Democratic countries that strive to uphold the rule of law have also pressured companies like Apple to gain access to encrypted data, and are very likely already considering how this system will allow them to do so more easily in the future.

All it would take to widen the narrow backdoor that Apple is building is an expansion of the parameters to look for additional types of content, or a tweak of the configuration flags to scan, not just children’s, but anyone’s accounts. That’s not a slippery slope; that’s a fully built system that enables screening, takedown, and reporting in its end-to-end messaging.  

Don’t let Apple betray its users. Tell them today: Don't scan our phones. 

Further Reading: 

• Apple's Plan to "Think Different" About Encryption Opens a Backdoor to Your Private Life
• If You Build It, They Will Come: Apple Has Opened the Backdoor to Increased Surveillance and Censorship Around the World
• How LGBTQ+ Content is Censored Under the Guise of "Sexually Explicit"
• EFF Joins Global Coalition Asking Apple CEO Tim Cook to Stop Phone-Scanning
• Apple’s Plan to Scan Photos in Messages Turns Young People Into Privacy Pawns
• Why EFF Flew a Plane Over Apple's Headquarters