Don't Keep Such Content on Your Phone; Police Could Arrest You—10 People Already Arrested

Illegal Content on Phone: Delhi Police have arrested 10 individuals accused of storing and circulating content related to child sexual abuse.

Illegal Content on Phone: Content stored on your phone could land you in jail. A case of this nature has recently come to light, with Delhi Police arresting 10 people accused of storing and circulating child sexual abuse material on their phones. Information regarding this was obtained through Google's detection system, and the police arrested the individuals following a five-day operation. Police stated that the accused used cloud storage, social media platforms, and mobile apps to download, store, and distribute the illegal content.

Google Detects Content Stored on Phones

Google uses hash matching and artificial intelligence to detect Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) across its services. In hash matching, an image or video is converted into a unique digital fingerprint known as a "hash." Whenever a file is uploaded to Google's servers, the company's system compares its hash against a database of known CSAM. If a match is found, the system automatically triggers an alert without needing to open or view the file itself. If the system encounters material for which a hash does not already exist, Google uses AI models to recognize patterns, enabling it to detect new or edited content.

How Does Information from Google's System Reach the Police?

When Google's system detects objectionable or illegal content, it removes the material and submits a report to the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). This report contains the content, account details, and other relevant information. Subsequently, NCMEC forwards the report to law enforcement agencies in the respective country for investigation.

Avoid keeping such content on your phone at all costs

In India, there are legal prohibitions against downloading, storing, or sharing child-related obscene content. No individual is permitted to store or share such content on their phone, social media accounts, or similar platforms. Anyone found doing so will face legal consequences; action may be taken against them under both the IT Act and the POCSO Act.