Apple gets patent for censoring text messages

Although Apple applied for it all the way back in 2008, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has just awarded Apple, Inc. a patent on technology that could be used to block or censor text messages that contain potentially offensive terms. Although the patent uses the phrase “objectionable content” rather then “sexting,” it’s reasonably clear what Apple has in mind: giving parents the ability to prevent their children from sending or receiving naughty text messages. Of course, Apple notes the technology can have other applications: for instance, the technology could be used to require a child use a particular number of Spanish words per day, if they’re learning Spanish.

The technology can be applied both to outgoing and incoming texts. Incoming text messages can be blocked or have terms removed or substituted when they’re delivered; similarly, devices using the feature could substitute more-acceptable words for censored terms, or refuse to send the message at all if it contains objectionable terms. The technology can also alert parents or administrators (say, if the device were being used in a school setting) that inappropriate terms were being used.

Of course, children have been circumventing parents’ efforts to control their communications for as long as humans have been communicating, and there’s little doubt that children will quickly find substitute words, slang, and unfiltered terms to get their meanings across. However, the technology does give Apple another way to help its technology feel somewhat safer to parents—last year, an AP/MTV poll found that the majority of young Americans have “sexted.” And, of course, if the patent holds up Apple can charge other companies license fees for using the same technology in their products.

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