Apple will check public iCloud links for harmful content from iOS 27.3

Think of the last time you sent a holiday album or a work file as a quick iCloud link. It was easy, because anyone who had the link could open it. From next month, Apple will also look at what is inside.

In a support page published on 3 November, Apple says that from iOS 27.3, anything shared from iCloud with “Anyone with the link” will be checked for harmful content. This Apple iCloud scanning covers one of the simplest ways people share. It matters because Apple has not said what “harmful” means, or how it decides.

Only “Anyone with the link” sharing is checked

Apple’s page explains the two ways to share an iCloud item, such as a photo in iCloud Photos or a file in iCloud Drive. You can Share a Link or Send a Copy. A shared link can go to “People you choose”, meaning only people you invite or approve, or to “Anyone with the link”.

The second option, Apple notes, makes the item open to anyone who has the link, “including Apple”. From version 27.3 of iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS, those items “will be checked by Apple for harmful content”. The page does not mention any change for “People you choose” or Send a Copy. The first test version of iOS 27.3 came out on 3 November, and The Verge reports the full release is planned for December.

If something is flagged, Apple says it may move, refuse, change or delete the content. It may also block or disable the Apple Account, stop the same email address or phone number from opening a new account, and, “if necessary”, involve law enforcement.

The word “harmful” is doing a lot of work

The Verge points out that Apple does not define harmful content. Apple’s page also does not say how the checks work, whether by software, by people, or both, and it describes no way to appeal. We could not find any Apple comment beyond the support page.

The Verge says the change follows calls from protesters for Apple to act against child sexual abuse material in iCloud. There is history here. In December 2022, as MacRumors and AppleInsider reported at the time, Apple dropped an earlier, controversial plan to detect known child abuse images in iCloud Photos.

As 9to5Mac notes, public links were always open to Apple. What changes is that Apple will now look.

Can Apple see iCloud photos you share publicly? Yes

This part is easy to miss. Apple says items shared with “Anyone with the link” are not end-to-end encrypted, even if you have turned on Advanced Data Protection for iCloud. End-to-end encryption means only you and the people you share with hold the keys. Apple’s security overview shows this was already true before iOS 27.3. The new part is the checking.

Your private photos and files that you have not shared this way are not named in the change. Apple’s page also says not all features are available in all countries or regions, so the timing may differ where you live.

How to share calmly after iOS 27.3

If a photo or file is personal, choose “People you choose” when you share an iCloud link, or use Send a Copy. Both are named in Apple’s own page as other ways to share. It is also worth looking through the iCloud items you have already shared with “Anyone with the link” and stopping the ones you no longer need. An old link may still be open.

For more on what else this update brings, see our story on Apple Intelligence arriving in China with iOS 27.3.

A fair goal, with rules that still need to be written down

On balance, the aim behind Apple iCloud scanning is one most people share. Stopping abuse material from spreading through easy public links protects children, and public links are the obvious place to start. Limiting the checks to “Anyone with the link” also leaves private sharing alone, at least on paper.

The worry is the gap between the goal and the details. A vague word like “harmful”, no stated method and no appeals process means an innocent family photo could, in theory, cost someone their whole Apple Account. For many people, that account holds years of photos and purchases. Apple was more specific when it wrote its new App Store rules on nudify apps, naming exactly what was banned. The same clarity would help here.

Our reading is that Apple will need to explain far more before December if it wants people to trust the change.

The questions to watch are simple: what Apple counts as harmful, who checks, and how someone wrongly flagged can get their account back.