Apple’s text-control tech is not about stopping sexting

A surprising number of observers have asserted that Apple is aiming to help concerned parents crack down on inappropriate text messages — such as “sexts” — among teens with the company’s recently approved SMS-monitoring patent. Yes, Apple has garnered a reputation for prudishness, but if the company or parents truly believe they can succeed in eliminating racy text exchanges among hormone-addled youths, they are in for severe disappointment.

The type of filtering Apple appears to envision involves flagging text messages that contain specific words from a predefined list. A message containing, say, a four-letter favorite might end up censored (“What the **** happened to my last message?”) or entirely blocked, and the parent could receive an alert informing them that tiny Timmy has a dirty mouth — er, set of texting fingers.

[ Also on InfoWorld.com: Cringely is sad to inform you that this sexting message has not been brought to you by Apple | Keep up on key mobile developments and insights with the Mobile Edge blog and Mobilize newsletter. | Follow the latest in Apple technology with our Technology: Apple newsletter. ]

Thing is, this sort of technology is not particularly new. Security vendors have rolled out DLP (data-loss prevention) products designed to identify and stop emails and IMs containing sensitive information, such as trade secrets, client lists, and the like. Similarly, collaboration and entertainment media, including discussion threads and real-time games, sometimes have filters to censor words that, in certain contexts, could be deemed offensive.

More important, the kind of technology outlined by Apple is not entirely effective in and of itself, whether it’s applied to a teenager “sexting,” an employee divulging snippets of sensitive data, or the company CEO carelessly messaging off-color racist jokes. A cheap romance novel demonstrates how easily one can engage in hot and heavy banter without using the more obvious words pertaining to particular acts or parts of the human anatomy. Simple code — perhaps words in place of numbers to relay a Social Security number or credit card number — can mask sensitive information. And it’s possible to offend a group of people based on race, religion, or ethnicity without using choice derogatory words.

Apple’s text-control tech is not about stopping sexting

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