UK cybersecurity chiefs back plan to scan phones for child abuse images

Providers such as Facebook or Apple could build software that monitors messages for suspicious activity without sharing the contents with a centralised server. Photograph: Jenny Kane/AP

Tech companies should move ahead with controversial technology that scans for child abuse imagery on users’ phones, the technical heads of GCHQ and the UK’s National Cybersecurity Centre have said.

So-called “client-side scanning” would involve service providers such as Facebook or Apple building software that monitors communications for suspicious activity without needing to share the contents of messages with a centralised server.