Android SafetyCore: Clarification on Client-Side Scanning

By Ravie Lakshmanan

February 11, 2025

Google has clarified that the newly introduced Android System SafetyCore app does not perform any client-side scanning of content. Instead, it provides on-device infrastructure for securely and privately performing classification to help users detect unwanted content.

Android SafetyCore: A Safe Alternative

Safeguarding Users Against Threats

"Android provides many on-device protections that safeguard users against threats like malware, messaging spam and abuse protections, and phone scam protections, while preserving user privacy and keeping users in control of their data," said a spokesperson for the company.

How SafetyCore Works

SafetyCore is a new Google system service for Android 9+ devices that offers the on-device infrastructure for securely and privately performing classification to help users detect unwanted content. Users are in control over SafetyCore, and it only classifies specific content when an app requests it through an optionally enabled feature.

No Client-Side Scanning

Unlike client-side scanning (CSS), SafetyCore does not perform on-device analysis of data. Instead, it provides a safe alternative that enables on-device machine learning to classify content as spam, scam, or malware. This approach respects user privacy and avoids weakening encryption or adding backdoors to existing systems.

Comparison to Apple’s Communication Safety

In some ways, Google’s Sensitive Content Warnings for the Messages app is similar to Apple’s Communication Safety feature in iMessage, which employs on-device machine learning to analyze photo and video attachments and determine if a photo or video appears to contain nudity.

GrapheneOS Reiterates SafetyCore’s Safety

The maintainers of the GrapheneOS operating system reiterated that SafetyCore does not provide client-side scanning and is mainly designed to offer on-device machine learning models that can be used by other applications to classify content as spam, scam, or malware.

Conclusion

SafetyCore is a new Google system service that provides on-device infrastructure for securely and privately performing classification to help users detect unwanted content. Unlike client-side scanning, SafetyCore does not perform on-device analysis of data, respecting user privacy and keeping users in control of their data.

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