Pixel-spreadsheet Alternatives

pixel-spreadsheet reviews and mentions

• Delays Aren't Good Enough–Apple Must Abandon Its Surveillance Plans
  2 projects | news.ycombinator.com | 3 Sep 2021

  It's not a problem that can be realistically solved with technology. The problem existed before electricity had been discovered[1][2] and continues to exist[3] in a significant way regardless of the presence of computers and the Internet.

  I'd guess that the intent behind client-side scanning is to force child abusers away from mainstream technology towards niche technology[4][5][6], increasing the signal-to-noise ratio for finding and targeting child abusers. At present, there is nothing inherently suspicious about someone using WhatsApp, which means child abusers can hide amongst millions of other users. If CSAM is instead pushed onto Tor and a little-heard-of encrypted messaging app with servers located in eastern Europe, the theory is that it becomes easier to target just these niche users. If they're using Tor, they must have something to hide and therefore further investigation is warranted...?

  A key problem with this approach is that, as has happened in other criminal circles, criminals find increasingly clever ways to remain 'boring' and not inviting of further scrutiny, or to otherwise remain hidden in the masses. For example, 9/11 hijackers communicated using boring methods, without encryption, using a coded language to make messages appear innocuous[7]. Even if general purpose computing was prohibited, would it be realistic to prevent users from using spreadsheet formulas to implement encryption and display of images[8][9][10], without impacting other users?. Another key problem is that innocent people will likely be targeted and harassed by association with niche technologies, which also wastes resources that could be used to limit child abuse via more effective means.

  It would be possible to implement something that looks like North Korea's Kwangmyong[11] and largely solve the CSAM-sharing-via-computers problem, but at that point you've essentially banned computing altogether. This is actually a decision some countries have made[12] but good luck convincing the modern world that it'd be a good idea to eradicate the last 40 years of technological advancement whilst other countries continue to leap ahead technologically with the help of open and unrestricted access to general purpose computing.

  [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pederasty

  [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacha_bazi

  [3] https://europepmc.org/article/nbk/nbk554624

  [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANOM

  [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EncroChat

  [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(network)

  [7] https://hcgroups.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/july-2001-communic...

  [8] https://poisonninja.github.io/2016/12/07/AES-in-Google-Sheet...

  [9] https://www.iacis.org/iis/2017/2_iis_2017_103-112.pdf

  [10] https://github.com/takacs/pixel-spreadsheet

  [11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwangmyong_(network)

  [12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Burmese_protests#Internet...